Morphea

I love swimming. Several times a week. Up to four hours at a time. This is my personal luxury. And at the same time the beginning of my illness. Where…. Not quite!

In January 2022, I noticed a strange discoloration on my right breast. Great, is that breast cancer? A white hardening and a purple ring around it. Or maybe Lyme disease? I googled my fingers sore. Nothing helped, so I went to the family doctor. Well, a gynecologist has to take a look at that. “Breasts aren’t my area,” he laughed. But prescribed me cortisone ointment. As we all know, it helps against everything. I never filled the prescription...the gynecologist was at least able to rule out breast cancer for the time being, but I should keep an eye on it and use the cortisone ointment. “Yeah, yeah, I…..don’t!”

I went to the derma clinic in my tunic during the break. Pulled him up, “here look at my chest!” not a man’s dream, but pure reality. The senior doctor should look at it. One look: clearly scleroderma!

My face fell apart. What? Images of black fingers flashed through my mind. Amputated feet. “No, not systemic scleroderma. But a morphea, a form of scleroderma. A rare autoimmune disease.” The very next day I was on the operating table during my breakfast break for a biopsy. Wait. Yes, it's a morphea. 27 out of 1 million people have it, congratulations!

She was treated with daily UV1 light for five weeks. Full body solarium. Done. The disease is not curable, but it has been there ever since. All that remains are a few dark spots on my body.

And so it started, autoimmune disease #1

Continue….