Sclero-what?

So, Monday morning finally rolled around, and my rheumy called me first thing in the morning. He told me that my echo hadn't changed much from last year, but there was still a bit of high pressure in one of my arteries. Because pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is somewhat common, and a concern among scleroderma patients, he suggested that I have a right heart catheterization done. Then we could see if I need to go on medicine to reduce the high pressure, or just keep testing with echos every few months. PAH is basically high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, the blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the lungs.It occurs when most of the very small arteries throughout the lungs narrow, which increases the resistance to blood flow through the lungs, which results in the heart having to work harder. For a right heart cath they put a catheter in through your femoral artery (or through your neck) to the right side of the heart and passes it into the pulmon...

Well, I had a big nice post put together and then it got deleted. Hate when that happens. Let's see if I can put it all together again. I had a rheumy appointment on the 3rd. It was pretty basic. He asked how my stomach was feeling to which I replied fine. I mentioned that I have a spot on my leg that goes numb when I'm trying to sleep at night. It will burn and tingle and just go numb. I hate it. It happens when it gets too cold and when I get too hot. It doesn't make sense. My rheumy said that it sounded like meralgia paresthetica. He said he sees it a lot in overweight people, and tells them to wear looser clothes and lose weight. Since those aren't really options for me, he wasn't exactly sure what to do. It really isn't a big deal. Just another annoyance I have to deal with.That was about it, though. Then it was off to run some blood tests and get a chest X-ray to check out my lungs (which came back normal.) Because Scleroderma, ...

Last weekend was a great experience. It was the Northern Utah: Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma 5K walk. I posted information about it in this blog post if you''d like to read more about it. I know I've mentioned this before, but as I'm slowly coming to realize that this disease is something I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life, I've decided that I'm going to make the best of it and spread as much awareness about it as possible, and if we can raise money for research, I'll definitely do it. I had looked and looked to see if there was anything going on close to me, and when I found the 5K in Syracuse, UT, I really wanted to do it. I jokingly posted on facebook to see if anyone wanted to join me, and I got some responses like, "I wish I could, but I'd love to donate." Awesome. People are so awesome! Then I saw my mom a few days later and she said that my Aunt Laurel had suggested that we all do it, and get T-shirts and ...