Living The Dream

Living the Dream Scleroderma Style

DAY 24 Scleroderma Awareness Month: DIGITAL ISCHAEMIA Management

  Digital ulcers are more often than not a scleroderma patient’s nemesis. They used to be extremely troublesome for me, until I started taking bosentan continuously in autumn 2012. This requires me to have bi-monthly blood tests, which were monthly, for the first eighteen months of taking the drug.

DAY 20 Scleroderma Awareness Month: BONES, JOINTS, MUSCLES

  DAY 20  Scleroderma Awareness Month:  BONES, JOINTS, MUSCLES Most scleroderma patients will experience symptoms relating to their musculoskeletal system, including their bones, and in some cases this can lead to osteoporosis. Again, it is important to note that no two scleroderma patients will present with the exact…

DAY 19 Scleroderma Awareness Month: CALCINOSIS

DAY 19  Scleroderma Awareness Month: CALCINOSIS Today’s topic is the debilitating, painful symptom of calcinosis. It is important to note that not every scleroderma patient will experience calcinosis, since no two scleroderma patients present with the exact same set of symptoms. Calcinosis is more prevalent in the diffuse…

DAY 17 Scleroderma Awareness Month: THE LUNGS

DAY 17  Scleroderma Awareness Month: THE LUNGS As highlighted in the diagram above, lung involvement in scleroderma patients can be a life threatening complication, if not diagnosed and managed early on in the disease process. Lung involvement, compared to other organ involvement, currently, carries the highest threat to…

DAY 16 Scleroderma Awareness Month: THE HEART

DAY 16  Scleroderma Awareness Month: THE HEART Scleroderma can affect all body parts, including the heart. This can be seen in the limited forms and the diffuse forms – see my Day 1 Scleroderma Awareness Month blog post. As can be seen in the above…