My mother took to the doctors a few weeks later as the spot had not gone away. She was quietly worried.

The doctor was not able to diagnose me so I was referred to a dermatologist. He told me I had morphea, "A rare skin condition that could not be treated." I left feeling confused and worried.

Over the next few months I developed other similar patches of discoloration on my skin, that were also on the left side of my body near the same area as the first spot. They start out pink in color, then turn purple and either burn out to brown at this stage or become extremely itchy before turning white and then burning out to brown. I am now twenty-three and my morphea has spread all down my torso, onto my leg, my ankle and across my body and back, but only on my left side.

Currently the skin on my stomach is itching and spreading. My fiancé and I are trying for a baby and this is causing me some worry. Will my skin affect my ability to carry a baby? I do not know and I also do not know who can tell me. That is the scary part; the fact that so little is known about this condition.

My skin gets me down every so often. When I see young women in the summer dressed in little dresses and skirts, I think back to when I was a teenager and I can remember what my body looked like when I had clear skin. Now when I look at myself in the mirror I feel unattractive.

My fiancé's great about my skin. He says he loves me no matter what, but I have this deep fear within me. I worry that if the morphea spreads to my face I would not be strong enough to cope with it. At the moment I can cover it with my clothes, but it is spreading so fast that I am not sure how it will be in the next few years. I guess I will just have to deal with that when it happens.

My morphea will not stop me from living my life but I know it will always get me down at times.

Webmaster's Note: There are now treatments available for morphea, and consulting a scleroderma expert would be a terrific idea for the latest advice regarding remedies. Please see our page on Morphea Scleroderma.