Hello, my name is Patty Sandoval Sralla. In 2003-2004, I served as ISN Newsletter Coordinator. I am delighted to return now as ISN Insider Newsletter Manager. Our newsletter is for ISN members and volunteers and a vital part of the outreach for our nonprofit agency.

I also wrote press releases for the ISN's wonderful Voices of Scleroderma book series.

I'm a former newspaper editor with more than fifteen years experience in daily newspapers. My most recent job was at The Oakland Press in Pontiac, Michigan. I was there for almost eight years. Prior to that I worked at a smaller paper in South Texas, where I was born and raised.

I've always been an avid volunteer, working with organizations such as Big Brothers-Big Sisters and my local church teaching social justice issues to middle school kids. I was on the go all the time. That all came to a screeching halt when I was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (PH).

This wasn't my first bout with an illness. As a child, I had linear scleroderma that significantly deformed my left thumb. But I was lucky. The disease didn't internalize and went into remission when I was about twelve. Things were fine for more than thirty years. I went to college, married, and had two healthy boys. I now have a band,Patty and The Mockingbirds. We play in clubs in the San Antonio, Texas area.

Then about three years ago, I started to feel short of breath, especially with exercise. Then came the PH diagnosis . I quit my stress-filled job and decided to focus on getting well. I decided to do some investigating and, of course, came directly to the ISN website.

I remembered reading about PH being related to scleroderma and I was relieved to read that PH wasn't the death sentence so many other sites proclaimed. Though my doctors don't think it's related because linear scleroderma isn't supposed to internalize, I know how wacky this illness is so I like to keep informed about current medical news.

Please feel free to email me at any time with ideas for articles or feedback regarding publicity for the Voices of Scleroderma book series.