Having recently lost my mother to CREST, I really
do know how you feel. Scleroderma is such a
frustrating disease, as really only the symptoms can be
treated. My mother was "lucky" enough to have a fabulous
family doctor who diagnosed her very early. I don't know
if that prolonged her life or not, but at least it
made us aware of what to look for. The last year of
her life, she had another family doctor who took
great interest in finding out as much as he could about
the disease, and made sure she had the best
specialists around. He was very accessible, and spent a lot
of time on her case.<br><br>Unfortunately, in the
end, there isn't much they can do, except try to
control the pain and address the symptoms. Like Aaron's
story, my mother's feet became a major problem. Her
heart was too weak to even contemplate
amputation.<br><br>Anyway, from my experience with this horrible disease,
finding a family doctor that we could really trust and
rely on was our biggest help. <br><br>Best of luck to
your sister, and deepest sympathies to Aaron and your
fiance.