“People need to know there is hope,” says Cinda M. (dx 2023). “There’s always a light—you just need to look for it.”
Cinda’s journey with scleroderma began early last year when she noticed strange skin redness on her legs.
“I had some small spots that just appeared from one day to the next,” she says. “They started small but grew bigger and spread to different areas.”
Despite her concerns, her family doctor assured her that her experiences were caused by dietary changes. She later knew something was wrong when her skin started to harden and become painful.
Seeking answers, Cinda left Portugal to consult with doctors in Peru, where she was finally diagnosed with scleroderma by a dermatologist.
“The doctors told me that there’s no cure for scleroderma but encouraged me to try to live my best life,” she says. “It was terrifying. I was about to get married, and then suddenly, I was facing this life-changing diagnosis.”
Determined to regain mobility, Cinda pursued a holistic approach to managing her symptoms, drawing on her background as a rehabilitation massage therapist and yoga teacher.
“My legs were completely blocked, like stones, and I could barely bend my arms,” she recalls. “I knew I had to stay active, so I would walk and take little steps every day. I cried from the pain, but I couldn’t give up.”
She began using yoga, nutrition, and gentle exercise to complement her treatments. “What’s healing me is not just medicine, but also everything else—what I eat, drink, breathe, and how I move,” she says.
Cinda supports research, hoping it can increase physician knowledge and improve patient treatment. “Doctors here didn’t know anything about scleroderma. I went to so many doctors, and it was agony because no one could tell me anything,” she says.
“Research is so important,” Cinda says. “If doctors understand scleroderma, they will know how to fight it and help us better.”
Thank you so much, Cinda, for sharing your story and for helping spread awareness about scleroderma. At the Scleroderma Research Foundation, we are equally committed to advancing research aimed at developing improved therapies and, ultimately, finding a cure for scleroderma.
