Yes, I’m a warrior. I was classified as one long before my scleroderma diagnosis since I’m an African American woman and single mom of two adult children. God has been preparing me to be a great warrior since birth. Learning that I had scleroderma was a relief. The…

The feeling of overheating while being cold at the same time isn’t an unfamiliar symptom to me. For almost a decade, I have dealt with hot flashes due to medication-induced menopause. However, severe sweating strictly at night with symptoms of extreme internal heat, clammy skin, sleeplessness, and cold…

Life with scleroderma can be a struggle. Sometimes, when the pain seeps into my bones and fatigue keeps me in bed for hours, the battle seems insurmountable. But even on those difficult days, I’ve learned to fake it until I make it. I can’t tell you how many times…

Elevations in two indices of body-wide inflammation are associated with greater disease activity in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients, according to a recent study. The two inflammatory markers — called the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and platelet-to-hemoglobin ratio (PHR) — were also associated with skin ulcers, and musculoskeletal and pulmonary…

I would venture to guess that most people wake up every morning feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep. They are probably bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, reenergized, and ready to take on the new day. Unfortunately for me, waking up every morning seems more like the movie “Groundhog Day”…

I vividly remember sitting in the car after my pulmonologist broke the news that my lungs were scarred and I had interstitial lung disease. It was the summer of 2015, a year after my scleroderma diagnosis. According to everything I found online, this put me on the fast…

The last few months have been a whirlwind for me due to all of the life-changing events I’ve been experiencing. Autoimmune disorders and stress do not mix well, and it took me a while to recover from moving, starting a new career, and experiencing a scleroderma flare-up. I…

How many times have you asked yourself, “Is this scleroderma?” Odd sensations, abnormal changes, pain, and even visible deformities — there’s no shortage of strange symptoms with this disease. I used to embark on a fruitless journey to discover answers, spending hours researching and probing fellow patients in support…

I have always thought of myself as someone who thrives on being independent. But living with scleroderma does not afford me that luxury. Scleroderma is a major component of my life. Plainly speaking, it’s not something I can stash away or bring out when I want to, like a…

Most of the time, I try to remain positive and open-minded. I learned this a long time ago while dealing with the ups and downs of scleroderma. If I can push through the painful emotions that scleroderma causes, I can live a much more enjoyable life with a positive…