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Theresa Gregorcy felt like she was itching from the inside out. A rash had moved from her scalp to her face and hands, but the itching wasn’t the only problem. As the director of a preschool, she started noticing muscle weakness. She could not lift her arms. She had to pick up her legs with her hands to get into the car. “My nickname became ‘Just Tired.’” It took months of doctors’ visits to determine the cause: dermatomyositis.
She found a good rheumatologist and started to feel a little better, but she still needed her well-trained border collie to bring items from other rooms and pick up things she dropped. Her mother came to care for her when her husband was out of town for business. She took walks at night to avoid the sun.
Will you help people like Theresa find hope and know they are not alone?
Theresa’s doctor introduced her to The Myositis Association (TMA) and she started attending a monthly support group. “I was so relieved to be with people who didn’t think I was crazy and understood why I was tired.” Group members told each other how they really felt and shared tips to get through the day with myositis. “People called me to ask me how I was doing,” Theresa said. Her doctor even met with the group to share his own myositis research and get their input. Then Theresa reached out to a medical expert through TMA, and he responded to her personally.
Two years ago, after 14 years, Theresa was feeling better. But her rheumatologist retired, and when her new doctor ran tests, the results came back normal. “This doctor told me I probably had never had DM in the first place, but I knew from my TMA experience that what I had was real. I never went back to that doctor, and I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that without TMA.” Her second “new” rheumatologist explained that she was in remission, which was a relief. With the confidence she gained from TMA, she knew she had the right new doctor.
Please make a gift today to help TMA support and encourage people like Theresa.
Your generosity makes all the difference this Myositis Awareness Month!
