Scleroderma Summer
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
By: Jennifer Hermann

What my "sclerodoodle" means to me ...

S - The water flowing from the hose represent all the tears I've cried in the 2 years it took me to get diagnosed and continue to cry while dealing with this disease. The 3 water splashes are in shapes of hearts representing the love and support I'm receiving from my 3 immediate family members my mother, Jule, my father, Charlie and my sister, Kelley.

C - The orange represents a favorite fruit I can no longer enjoying eating due to a secondary disease, GEARD, my disease scleroderma has caused.

L - The bottle rocket represents one of my favorite holidays, the 4th of July. The 2012 Scleroderma National Patient Educational Conference is also being held in the month of July.

E - The butterfly represents the birds I watch out my windows during the winter months when the weather is to cold for me to go outside due to a secondary disease, Raynauds, my disease scleroderma has caused. The color of the butterfly is a mixture of blue, purple and red which are the colors my fingers turn when I go outside in the cold.

R - The apple core represents the rare disease scleroderma eating away at what was my "normal" life. I am now slowly learning and coming to terms with having a "new normal" life which includes fighting this rare disease and spreading awareness. The 3 seeds in the apple core represent the 2 years it took to get diagnosed with scleroderma and the 1 year I have lived with this diagnosis.

O - The beach ball represents the time of year, summer, when my disease scleroderma and all my secondary diseases seem to be on what I call "best behavior". The beach ball has 4 segments which represent the 2 years it took me to get diagnosed, the 1 year I have lived with the diagnosis and the 1 year I have to be on my current medication regiment to see if they can slow the progression of my disease since there is currently no cure for scleroderma.

D - The cherry stem represents to me the long life I have yet and hope to live with my "new normal" scleroderma.

E - The butterfly represents the birds I watch out my windows during the winter months when the weather is to cold for me to go outside due to a secondary disease, Raynauds, my disease scleroderma has caused. The color of the butterfly is a mixture of blue, purple and red which are the colors my fingers turn when I go outside in the cold.

R - The apple core represents the rare disease scleroderma eating away at what was my "normal" life. I am now slowly learning and coming to terms with having a "new normal" life which includes fighting this rare disease and spreading awareness. The 3 seeds in the apple core represent the 2 years it took to get diagnosed with scleroderma and the 1 year I have lived with this diagnosis.

M - The Scleroderma Foundation logo represents the one place I have been able to go to educate myself through the online news letters, patient educational forums and monthly support group meetings.

A - The sun represents the time of year, summer, when my disease scleroderma and all my secondary diseases seem to be on what I call "best behavior". The 12 sun rays represent the 12 family/friends that have provided me with love and supports and in which I would have not been able to been to make it through without. My sincerest love to my mother, Jule, my father, Charlie, my sister Kelley, my brother-in-law, Jimmy, my nephew, Kyle, my nieces, Lydia, Ella, Anna-Fleur, my friends, Stephanie, Jen, Amy and Larry. The 12 sun rays also represent the team of 12 doctors it took to get me fully diagnosed. They believed in me when I told them something wasn't right and they didn't give up, without them I would not be where I am today. Thank you Dr. Frank, Dr. Nucatola, Dr. Akaya-Smith, Dr. Hsu, Dr. Gordon, Dr. Derk, Dr. Carnucci, Dr. Sussman, Dr. Ramasamy, Dr. Schwanwede, Dr. Moreya and Dr. Marlen.