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Family participates in walk to aid fight of autoimmune disease
Jenna Rae McComas shared this story about her family's efforts to support the Scleroderma Foundation.
On June 22, I joined 170 others in Dublin, Ohio, for Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma, a walk to support the Scleroderma Foundation and the hundreds of thousands of adults and children who cope with the disease every day.
My family created a team, Team Dirt, which consisted of Joyce Ross, Susan McComas, Erin McComas and myself. We walked in memory of Ann Caldwell, our beloved sister and aunt who passed away of scleroderma in 2004. She was 53. There is not a way for me to describe my aunt Annie, except to say she was someone I loved and respected very much.
She earned the term "missionary emeritus" from the American Baptist Convention for her voluntary missionary work in dozens of countries. She was very active in church as a member of the choir and as a guitarist. Our team name, Dirt, came from a song Ann sang that went, "God don't treat me like dirt, even though that's what I am."
She was a Postal Service employee for more than 20 years. Annie was fun-loving and mischievous. She loved trivia games and always wanted to compete on "Jeopardy" or "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" Sadly, she became too ill before she could accomplish these dreams. However, a week before she passed, she beat several family members in a game of Trivial Pursuit.
Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is a chronic connective tissue disease generally classified as one of the autoimmune rheumatic diseases, according to the foundation's Web site www.scleroderma.org. The word "scleroderma" comes from two Greek words: "sclero" meaning hard, and "derma" meaning skin. Hardening of the skin is one of the most visible manifestations of the disease, however the internal damage is the most devastating. The symptoms of scleroderma vary greatly from individual to individual, and the effects of scleroderma can range from very mild to life-threatening. There are an estimated 300,000 people in the United States who have scleroderma, about one third of whom have the systemic, fatal form of scleroderma. Since scleroderma presents with symptoms similar to other autoimmune diseases, diagnosis is difficult and there may be many misdiagnosed or undiagnosed cases as well. The exact cause of scleroderma is still unknown, but scientists and medical investigators are working hard to make those determinations. While there are treatments available for specific symptoms, at the present time, there is no cure for scleroderma.
Scleroderma causes an overproduction of collagen, which creates scar tissue. Ann's organs began to turn to scar tissue, and in the end, her digestive system failed her. When she passed away, Ann weighed a mere 86 pounds.
We had a wonderful time at Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma. We had the chance to talk to several people affected by the disease, and to those who had lost a loved one like we had. The Columbus Zoo brought several animals, and there was a pick-a-prize auction and 50/50 raffle. We won a pennant signed by the entire Columbus Bluejackets National Hockey League team.
The members of Team Dirt were the only participants from West Virginia. There is currently no chapter of the Scleroderma Foundation in West Virginia.
If you are interested in learning more about scleroderma or donating to the foundation, please visit www.scleroderma.org. There is also a search engine called Goodsearch.com that donates 50 percent of its revenue to charities and schools designated by its users. The Scleroderma Foundation is one of the organizations to which it will donate.
Jenna Rae McComas is a Ona resident.
