Exactly 6 years ago today I was diagnosed with localized scleroderma, a rare imm…

Exactly 6 years ago today I was diagnosed with localized scleroderma, a rare immune / autoimmune condition. I am *incredibly* fortunate that I have the localized version, which is, well, localized. The systemic version attacks your organs and is nearly always, if not always, fatal. Two months later Covid hit our state, and I went into what turned out to be permanent medical isolation, because we suspected that Covid, which also impacts internal organs, could trigger systemic scleroderma in someone who already has the localized version. Turned out we were right, as a few new studies have confirmed. I had imagined that by now there would be a sterilizing vaccine (meaning it keeps you from getting the thing, rather than just keeping you from getting as sick) for Covid, but there isn’t. C’est la vie. So I continue to isolate, and consider myself *very* fortunate to a) have the localized version of scleroderma, b) to have been diagnosed *before* Covid hit, rather than the other way around, c) to have had enough of a medical background to understand that I had to isolate when Covid hit, d) to *be able* to isolate, e) to have a wonderful set of friends and providers who understand and accommodate my need to be so very, very careful (for example my pharmacy comes out and gives me my vaccines in my car, with both of us masked), and f) to still, even in isolation, be able to in some small way contribute and hopefully make a difference.  I’m posting this by way of gratitude for all of those things I just mentioned, and also in solidarity with all of the other people I know who have to avoid Covid like the plague because it could incapacitate or even kill them – those of you who are lucky enough to think that it’s “just a cold” – for a whole lot of us it really isn’t and it’s still a Very Serious, Very Contagious, and even Deadly illness. And I’m also posting this by way of an explanation: when y’all ask me how I am able to keep up with all of those court cases and other things going on, and to keep you updated on them all, well, I’m very fortunate to have a lifestyle which allows for it; I might not have picked this lifestyle, but I’m damned lucky to be able to live it! Stuff happens, it’s up to you how you choose to roll with that stuff.



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