Donna O’Sullivan was unprepared for the onslaught of symptoms that hit her from her scleroderma, writes Melissa Jacobs for Main Line Today.

The Havertown woman had trouble breathing. Her skin turned white. She began convulsing. Oxygen and blood levels in her body dropped.

Despite visiting numerous physicians, her symptoms worsened.

Getting the right diagnosis and the right doctor was a difficult journey. The Havertown resident had been misdiagnosed with lupus, then anemia.

She decided to dive into the research on scleroderma and join on line support groups.

“Patients become the experts, because scleroderma manifests differently from person to person, making it difficult to diagnose,” said Kerri Connolly, national director of programs and services for the Scleroderma Foundation.

O’Sullivan’s tenacity has paid off. She found a physician that could treat her. The cause of the disease is unknown, but the good news is that the range of symptoms can be treated with blood pressure medication aspirin, antacid, dietary changes and immunosuppressant therapy.

O’Sullivan hopes that talking about it will raise awareness of this rare and frequently misunderstood disease.

“People with chronic illnesses aren’t faking being sick—they’re actually faking being well,” O’Sullivan said.

Read more about Donna O’Sullivan here.

[uam_ad id=”62465″]