Nicola Whitehill,  —

Having graduated with BSc Hons in Applied and Human Biology in 1995, I was working as a medical rep for Bristol Myers Squibb, when in 1997, aged 24, I was diagnosed with diffuse systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) and rayanuds and given a prognosis of 15 months, soon to be wheel chair bound. I was advised by my medical professional, at that time, to give up on my dream of being a barrister, and accept the diagnosis...... I did none of this! I changed my medical professional to international experts of the diagnosis (Dame Prof Black, and Prof Denton) and kept my dreams alive, qualifying as a practising barrister in March 2004. This prompted the medical decision to stop the 2g daily immunosuppressant routine of the previous 5 years, and unfortunately, within 8 weeks, I was forced to cease my 60hour working week and accept that the physical requirements of the role were too much for my body. I relocated to my family home town of Southport, UK. My full time job now, is to manage my symptoms to a controllable level. In 2013 I came out of the scleroderma closet to the world by way of the Daily Mail publishing my story with the headline 'The Real Life Tin Man' and since then I have devoted all of my spare energy to highlighting the plight of the scleroderma patient. In 2013 I became a patient advocate on the NHS England Clinical Reference Group for Specialised Rheumatology. I am honoured to have been a member of the clinical team who compiled the NHS England treatment guidelines for digital ulcers. In 2013, I also became a patient expert with the European Medicines Agency as well as Eurordis. In 2015 I was delighted to be a UK patient advocate for the FESCA World Scleroderma Day event held at the European Parliament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQimB_F2l_4 . I am wholly committed to improving the patient landscape which this diagnosis brings, and I feel very blessed that my symptoms are mild compared to other Ssc patients, whose voices, I hope to include also. Other than being a Ssc parrot, I enjoy relaxing with my dogs and anything which makes me feel good, as one day I want to be able to say I am scleroderma and raynauds free.

Articles by Nicola Whitehill

Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders Publishes First Volume

JOURNAL OF SCLERODERMA AND RELATED DISORDERS (JSRD) Volume 1 The official journal of THE WORLD SCLERODERMA FOUNDATION and THE EUROPEAN SCLERODERMA TRIALS AND RESEARCH GROUP (EUSTAR) ‘INTRODUCING THE JOURNAL OF SCLERODERMA and RELATED DISORDERS, a challenge for the future of our community’ This is the Editorial…

Mobility: An Ssc Patient Perspective

In September 1997, I was diagnosed with diffuse Systemic Sclerosis (scleroderma) and told by my medical consultant at that time that I would have to use a wheelchair by Christmas. Nine months later, I changed my medical consultant to the super-human beings who are Prof. Dame…

Fatigue in Systemic Sclerosis: An Unwelcome Symptom

The fatigue that accompanies scleroderma is not only an unwelcome, relentless symptom that is difficult to control and manage, but also can quite often be overlooked, with the initial management of the disease focussing on the more important (quite rightly), life threatening skin and organ fibrosis progression. There are…

Why Global Collaboration Is So Important to Systemic Sclerosis Patients

The 4th Systemic Sclerosis World Congress was held Feb. 18-20 in Lisbon, Portugal, and organized by the World Scleroderma Foundation, which describes itself as “a nonprofit, non-governmental foundation based in Switzerland, which functions as a research organization in favor of patients suffering from scleroderma.” The Foundation’s Mission Statement:…

Rare Disease Day 2016: a Highlight on Scleroderma

I am very excited to make Rare Disease Day 2016 the focus of my first post for Scleroderma News. What is Rare Disease Day? From Eurordis.org: “Held each year on the last day of February, Rare Disease Day is an annual awareness-raising event coordinated…