I’ve been tending three digital ulcers for months, now—one in each thumb (the infected left thumb is slowly continuing to heal) and one at the tip of my right index finger. This latter ulcer has been refusing to close up for weeks, to the point that I suspected another pit of calcium was working its way out.
Sure enough, Monday morning as I was changing my bandages, out it popped. It didn’t hurt, for a change, and now I hope the ulcer will finally close.
This particular ulcer was the passageway for previous calcium pits, however. It now seems that when one finds its way out, others follow. I am suspicious that the infected ulcer in my left thumb may also be hiding some emerging calcium
My Boston Medical rheumatologist had given me a prescription for colchicine as a possible treatment, which is typically used to treat gout. But no actual cure is known for calcinosis, and colchicine can cause diarrhea. My gut is only just healing from the latest long bout with that. So, not going to experiment, for now.
I’ve lived with this odd complication of scleroderma for decades. For the most part, it’s manageable, albeit annoying and occasionally quite painful when the calcium pit is stuck just beneath the surface. I always expect the pits to be whitish, since they are made of calcium, but they’re usually a charcoal gray. They can be round or jagged, often resembling grains of sand. I probably harvest about 10 each year.
And so it goes. Another little victory for my body’s ability to heal itself.
Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com. Please view Privacy Policy here.
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