(English) by First Name: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V-Z

By Language: French   German   Greek   Italian   Polish   Romanian   Russian   Spanish   Turkish

Melanie W: Linear Morphea

"The only good thing about this disease is that it makes you a better person."

I am eighteen years old and have been diagnosed with Linear morphea for two and a half years.

It started as a small white patch on my neck. It soon grew up my neck, and I have lost hair in that spot. I now have brown and white patches of skin all over my upper back. I am self-conscious of it, so I won't wear my hair up, or wear little tank tops.

My doctor says there's no treatment and that my scars will be there forever. I hate that feeling. The only good thing about this disease is that it makes you a better person. I am modest about myself and am thankful for what I do have.

I have to thank God that that is all I got from the disease. A lot of people have it worse.

To Contact the Author

ISN Story Editor: Judith Thompson Devlin

Judith Thompson Devlin is the ISN Story Editor for this story. She is also lead editor of the ISN's wonderful Voices of Scleroderma book series!

SCLERO.ORG was the world's leading nonprofit for trustworthy research, support, education and awareness for scleroderma and related illnesses from 1998 to 2021. It was a grassroots movement from the original Scleroderma from A to Z web site, which was founded by Shelley Ensz. We were a 501(c)(3) U.S.-based public charitable foundation. We closed this web site and our nonprofit agency in April 2021.