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Claudia: Systemic Scleroderma

Mexico

Hello, my name is Claudia, and my partner is Diego, we live in Mexico City. Two months ago he was diagnosed with this illness. It is awful to know that one of the people you love has an illness that isn't very common in my country.

Nature is wise, no doubt about it, when something is wrong with our body we have to pay attention. My boyfriend began to have symptoms which he thought were not important. At first he began to have contractures and tendonitis, that wouldn't heal in the appointed time. This limited his movements and limited him in what he could do. Then he got swollen fingers (sausage like), which became Raynaud's.

He went to other doctors and none could tell him the real reason of why this was happening. He was diagnosed many times, always wrong and always with the wrong treatment, so he got tired of doctors and wouldn't listen to his own body anymore. I was worried about him so I insisted on seeng more doctors, but he was in despair and didn't for a while. Afterwards he went to another doctor who confirmed the diagnosis of systemic scleroderma, and said this was causing his symptoms, especially the swelling and pain.

At first him and his family were very sad, so was I when he told me what the diagnosis had been, but now he mentions he has learned to live with his illness. He believes in himself, and fortunately he is doing better than before, he can move better than when he started with the illness. Raynaud's is still there, but the swelling has gone down.

From that moment on my boyfriend and I haven't stopped searching for information about this illness, we have seen a lot of web pages, medical magazines and such that tell us of possible changes my boyfriend could have at a given time.

I hope everyone who reads this can find some help and support in it. Don't give up, get informed. Deep down we all have someone to care for you and support you, and you have someone to do the same for: all the people who are with you, facing the illness.

To Contact the Author

ISN Artist: Sherrill Knaggs (In Loving Memory)

Sherrill Knaggs, ISN Artist, created the digital photo to illustrate the story on this page. Sherrill lived in New Zealand. Her story was featured in ISN's book, Voices of Scleroderma Volume 2.

ISN Translator and Editor: Alba León

Alba León is the ISN Translator for this page. She is studying international relations in Mexico City.

ISN Story Editor: Judith Thompson Devlin

Judith Thompson Devlin is the ISN Story Editor for this story. She is also lead editor of the ISN's wonderful Voices of Scleroderma book series!

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