Please help TMA speed the time to diagnosis by supporting myositis awareness! Donate Now!
By Ed McGrath My wife Marilyn has dermatomyositis, diagnosed in 2008. Her dermatologist initially thought she had lupus, but two years later she finally saw a rheumatologist who knew exactly what Marilyn was suffering from. “The Man,” as I call him, now manages Marilyn’s myositis treatment, and we often touch base with him about meds…
Continue Reading
At the age of 61, Bill Simeral was coaching downhill ski racing. He was in amazing shape, the guy who never got sick. His routine blood tests were abnormal, however, and he found out he had lupus. Then everything went haywire. Bill began experiencing muscle weakness and pain, and his very informed rheumatologist diagnosed him…
Continue Reading
By Kimberly Branche My myositis journey began in 2017 when my pulmonary doctor referred me to a pulmonary specialist at St. Joseph Hospital in Phoenix. I was having difficulty breathing and there was a five-millimeter (about 1/5 of an inch) nodule on my right lung that the referring doctor wanted to have biopsied. The specialist…
Continue Reading
As a teenager, Mia Formato began having unusual skin symptoms. Her red fingers and swollen hands continued in college and were joined by unexplained bouts of fatigue. Eventually she experienced extreme fatigue and pain that left her unable to walk up a flight of stairs, despite running a half marathon a few months before. She went…
Continue Reading
By Colleen Layton My journey with myositis has been a little more than twelve years long now! I was first diagnosed at the age of 43 with polymyositis after a six-month-to-one-year long history of falls, weakness, and joint/muscle pain. My most telling symptom: I was unable to properly ride a bike, when I had no…
Continue Reading