Kay Welch

Hi, my name is Kay Welch. I am a wife and a mother of two beautiful boys. My story begins after I gave birth to my second child.

I would get cold so easily and the tips of my fingers would turn purple and sometimes white and would be so painful. I would be tired and would have no energy at all. I thought at first I had just gotten frostbite from playing so much in the snow. We are an outdoors family.

After a while my family knew it was more than frostbite. They said they had never seen me like this. I'm not one to be tired, I am one that my house has to be spotless and my house was always a wreck. The activities with my boys and the family just stopped, causing my family to worry.

The thoughts they had - I know you've been through those. They thought that I wasn't happy with myself or my family, and I just got lazy and didn't care anymore. But they knew that wasn't me. I got worse and that's when the sores and my attitude changed. With pain you don't realize how irritable you become. So at this time my family are demanding that I need to go see a doctor because it is not frost bite, There was more and they saw it.

A doctor - that was far from my mind. I had never been sick in my life. But I came to my senses, looking back at the way I was and how I felt, and looking at it now and seeing the dramatic change, I thought their was a chemical imbalance and the doctor could give me medicine to help me.

One year later after my second son was born I went to the doctor. He ran all kinds of tests and gave my diagnosis. He said I had Raynaud's and Scleroderma. I sat their and listening not understanding what he was saying. So when i left the appointment I was driving home and it hit me. I almost wrecked my car thinking that this could kill me. I am not ready, I have small children and I'm so young. Thoughts just kept coming. I was torn from limb to limb.

How was I going to tell my family? When I walked in they all knew that something was wrong. We talked about it and what the doctor said. Like me, they had so many questions. So that's when I started looking for anything and everything I could find about Scleroderma. Didn't find much. And what we did we didn't understand.

When the movie FOR HOPE came out it was like a burden was lifted off my shoulders. It gave us a better understanding of Scleroderma. It also gave me the strength to beat this thing the doctor says I have. Things looks so much better lately. I have changed doctors. The doctors that I had been going to, would just give me medicine and never listen to me.

I went to the MAYO CLINIC in Minnesota to see Doc Madison after talking to a wonderful friend ( Margaret) who told me of him. The best thing I ever did. I had questions answered that others never told me. I know that my heart is good but my lungs are damaged, my breathing is just OK. I have the Scleroderma that attacks the organs. The other doctors would never tell me anything.

At the MAYO CLINIC I was treated with great respect and they were honest with me. I think the MAYO CLINIC is wonderful and my doctor is the best, besides the news I got. I would highly recommend it to everybody who wants answers on anything with your health.

I haven't given up hope and l never will. I feel a miracle coming soon.

Would love to talk. Best wishes for you all.

You can reach me at: Okay3ts@aol.com

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