Scleroderma Awareness at SnowCrest Jr. High
By Judy Bradshaw
My name is Judy Bradshaw and I have scleroderma. I started the
first support group in Utah. Bringing about awareness has always
been very important to me, so I was pleasantly surprised when my
grandson Kiefer asked me to speak to his health class about scleroderma.
Kiefer was doing a report on scleroderma and would get extra credit
if he had a speaker. He is 14 years old and in the eighth grade
at SnowCrest Jr. High in Edan, Utah. I was a bit apprehensive as
I had never spoken to such a young group before. My husband came
with me for support and to take pictures because I wanted to do
a write-up for the Utah Web page.
We went into the classroom and introduced ourselves to Kiefer's
teacher, Mrs. Baker. She had him write scleroderma on the board
and introduce me. I felt very comfortable with these young people
right from the start. I had posters with me and a picture of my
dear friend Gayla who I lost two years ago to this disease.
I started by telling them that the definition of scleroderma was
tight skin. I then explained to them the different types of scleroderma.
I also included that there are approximately 300,000 people with
this disease. Then I passed around the picture of Gayla that showed
her as Ms. Body Builder 1994 and the picture that showed how extensive
her scleroderma was. Gayla had ulcers on all her fingers and both
elbows. She could not straighten her arms or bend her legs. As the
saying goes "a picture is worth a thousand words."
I then explained to the children about limited scleroderma (CREST).
I went around and showed them the tightening on my hands and face.
My hands were really purple and cold, so they got to see first hand
what Raynaud's looks like. I also explained and showed them the
t-spots. I told them about the internal involvement that I have
and explained that this disease is so different in each one of us.
The children were so attentive and interested and I really enjoyed
them. We also had a question and answer time. They wanted to know
if there was a cure, what types of medicines people with scleroderma
take and if it is painful. When I was done they all applauded and
one young man yelled, "yea Kiefer's Grandma."
I asked them if they would wear one of our scleroderma wrisbands
in June for Scleroderma Awareness Month. Everyone of them took one
of the wristbands.
What a wonderful experience this was and another great way to bring
about scleroderma awareness. Naturally Kiefer got an A in this class!
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