Hi, my name is Christine. I'm the mother of two
wonderful daughters. My youngest daughter will be heading
off to school in Florida this fall(yikes! It's so far
from home!). My oldest daughter was a full time
student at a junior college nearby until the stress of
having scleroderma made it necessary for her to take
medical leave. Her condition started with her hands
turning blue, even in the warmest weather. Didn't know
why it was happening, we'd just warm them up, get the
pink back in her hands. Then she had this patch of dry
skin on her upper arm which I hadn't noticed till she
wore tanks last summer. After taking her to see our
family doctor, we were told that she has Raynauds. Then
he looked at her arms and gave her cream to soothe
the infected area. He ordered blood work and we were
called back to his office. He now referred her to a
rheumatolo-gist in a nearby city because something came up
positive in her lab results. More lab tests and a chest
x-ray were done. The rheuatologist confirm-ed she had
Raynaud's and told us she may have scleroderma. It wasn't
unitl here 3rd visit with him that he confirmed she has
scleroderma. By this time, I noticed the changes her body was
going through. Her skin became tight, not just in her
hands but also her arms. Her skin darkened and looked
leathery. This disease progressed quickly. Within a short
period of time, I saw it spread to her upper chest and
neck to both arms now and it was getting harder for
her to get from <br>class to class. She had gone from
105 lbs to 89 lbs and she was getting tired very
easily. Seeing how hard it is for her to get up from a
chair, the difficulty she has when walking and hearing
her moan and grunt when she has to perform the
simplest tasks breaks my heart. This is why our family doc
thought it was a good idea to take a break from school.
She's on 3 different medica-tions which seams to be
helping her skin to get a little softer. She's still home
from school and at this point, I don't know if she'll
go back. We've got love and support from my dad and
mom and other family members and prayers always help.
I'm just trying my best to keep her spirits up and
doing what I can for her. She knows I'll always be here
for her. I'm here for both my daughters. Well, I
guess I've taken up enough space here. Thanks for
listening.