Michelle S: Daughter of Systemic Scleroderma Patient

I am eighteen years old and my father has systemic scleroderma. He has had this disease for about two years now. I'm not sure why my father has to suffer through so much pain, and I pray every day that he will be relieved from his pain?

I remember being so scared of losing my father. He is one of the greatest men in the world. He is more compassionate and wiser than anyone else I have ever come across. I lost my mother when I was two years old and I really was scared of losing my father, also.

I have a stepmother whom I love more than anything. She pretty much raised me. I also have two younger sisters, one seven and one thirteen, and two older brothers, one twenty-nine and one twenty-seven.

I remember one day, my youngest sister wanting to sit up on my dad's lap, and she was quite the chunk for her age. Anyway, my dad tried to lift her up and he could not. His joints hurt too badly. I sat there and watched him tell my baby sister that he could not hold her right then because, "It hurts too much." That broke my heart.

But this winter, it is not that bad. His skin is loosening up and he can go outside and do yard work and he can put my little sister on his lap. And this next summer, he will be able to walk me down the aisle when I get married. I have wanted that since I was a little girl, but even more so since he got sick.

I really believe that my father is healing. He gets stronger every day and can do more and more. I just wanted to let everyone know, that it may seem like a long time before you get well, but with enough prayer and hope, everything will be okay.