Thanks! I considered calling it “Nose Job,” but decided against it. Too obvious.

Calcinosis is not unique to scleroderma, but a common complication. It’s often part of a cluster of symptoms that used to be called CREST syndrome–C for calcinosis, R for Raynaud’s, E for esophageal dysmotility (all kinds of swallowing issues), S for sclerosis (skin hardening), T for telangiectasia (irregular, enlarged capillaries). Not sure if that acronym is still in vogue among scleroderma diagnosticians, but it covers a number of my issues.

I think my first surgeon didn’t quite know what he was getting into with my skin, even though he was a well-recommended dermatologist. When I had finger surgery years ago, by a top specialist at New England Baptist, he commented at the end that he hoped to never have to operate on me again, that it was like sewing up onion skin. Scleroderma is rare enough that even the best specialists may not have encountered it. The doc who did my nose the first time was able to sew me up, but left a dark scar. My current doc is a plastic surgeon, as mentioned in my post, and it makes a big difference. The man works magic. I feel very lucky to have found him.

Thanks for your comment, Kathy. Actually, the more I write this, the more the themes become universal for me. In some ways, though I write about the specifics of scleroderma, the disease has become a metaphor in my mind for all the ways that our bodies break, and the struggles that ensue. So, I appreciate your thoughts and what you, friends and family are now going through.

We all start out thinking we’re immortal. Then, one way or another, we discover the truth that we aren’t. It’s a shock, no matter the particulars. And a long process of coming to terms with our physical losses.

I’m kind of shocked, though you probably are not, alas, that your previous surgeon knew how to take calcium pits from a nose but not how to handle the fragile skin there. One wonders who else has such calcium pits other than people with scleroderma, so one would think that if he/she has one skill, he/she has the other. Oh well.