“When I was first diagnosed, I was very depressed. I didn’t know what this illness would do to me,” Tameka N. (dx 2012) remembers. “Now, I just enjoy life as much as I can. We can change things around and live a much healthier life than the norm we are expecting.”
Her change in outlook didn’t come overnight. When Tameka first began experiencing symptoms, she was overwhelmed by uncertainty. At first, she avoided researching scleroderma. “Sometimes I feel that when you feed the mind information you’re not ready for, it triggers things to become worse,” she says.
After attending a walk for scleroderma awareness, she saw firsthand how differently the disease affects each person, and realized she wanted to understand her own diagnosis more deeply. Tameka leaned into learning, caring for herself, and taking control of what she could. “From that point, I said, ‘What can I do to make myself better?’” she says. “I stayed on top of my appointments, took my medication, changed the foods that triggered symptoms, exercised, meditated, and used massages and salt therapy to help regulate my illness.”
She also became an advocate for scleroderma awareness, sharing her experience through social media, podcasts, news articles, and soon, her first book, “The Skin of Secrets”, which released earlier this year.
For Tameka, research is essential to creating better futures for people living with this disease. “Scleroderma awareness and research reduce delays in diagnosis, improve outcomes, and drive the development of effective treatments and a cure,” she says.
Today, she is committed to living fully and helping others do the same. Thank you, Tameka, for sharing your story and your voice with the scleroderma community.
