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Vivi: Facial Scleroderma (Linear/Morphea or Parry Romberg's)

It is also extremely painful and sad to have to put up with everyone else's mockery, that is more hurtful than the illness itself.

Hello, my name is Vivi and I have had facial scleroderma since I was seven years old. At first I got a pimple on my face and my mom put something strange on it and it went away. After a while I got a spot on the right side of my face, close to my mouth, and it pulled my skin towards the side, also the skin around my nose. In this area the skin was thinner than in the rest of my face.

After three years I was taken to the Children's Hospital Federico Gómez in Mexico City. I was in treatment for five years but I had to leave. I have not been there in half a year and I don't think I will return.

I feel really bad, I want to get better, I want to be pretty, I am hurt when I see my cousins healthy and pretty and I can't stop covering my face because I am ashamed. I have been like this since I was a small child, and sometimes I have tried to do bad things to myself. I do not want to live this way.

I hope you will find a cure soon. I know a lot of kids like me are hurting, and we want to get better. We hurt when we see our parents suffering because of us, in hospitals, sleeping on the floor at our side, worried, and we cannot do anything.

It is also extremely painful and sad to have to put up with everyone else's mockery, that is more hurtful than the illness itself. I hope that you find a cure soon. I pray to God that he heals me and that a cure can be found. Thank you for listening, and let's keep our faith in God.

To Contact the Author

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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