Matt's Fight Against Scleroderma

The Matt Field Medical Story - since 2017 to 2025.

In early 2017, I started to develop a series of deep pitting ulcers on my fingers and knuckles,

one of which became infected with a rare and antibiotic resistant bacterial infection. In the two

and a half years it took to find effective treatment for that infection, I was diagnosed with

autoimmune disease Scleroderma, which is my body overproducing collagen that builds up in

my skin, connective tissue and some internal organs. Simply put, certain areas of my body

randomly turn into what is essentially scar tissue, especially areas of constant flexing, pressure

or friction. It has also affected my digestive tract and circulatory system resulting in weight loss

and high blood pressure respectively. All of this has progressed slowly, with some periods of

relative calm over the past years since I was diagnosed. This past year, and in particular the

past 4-6 months, however, I have had a particularly bad and difficult flare up, with the disease

manifesting itself in my feet more and more, which is much harder to deal with than it affecting

my hands. It has become more and more difficult to walk without severe pain and in the past

four months I have had three ulcers on my left foot become infected and turn into abscesses,

which have made it nearly impossible to work. These types of ulcers and the resulting

abscesses, especially in the foot, take months to heal properly, and I now find myself in serious

financial trouble just to meet basic day to day needs like rent, groceries, etc.

I have been trying to eliminate or at least lessen any root causes that may be causing or

contributing to the Sclerodema, but modern medicine has no answers other than drugs to

lessen symptoms, which I do take, with some effect, but the next level of modern drug therapy

is expensive and considerably toxic in the long term, with questionable outcomes. Things I’ve

been trying like Traditional Chinese Medicine, which has provided me with some lessening of

symptoms, are not covered by insurance and need to be paid for with ready cash, have had to

temporarily stop. I also had a full dental checkup a few months ago, which found some pretty

extensive and serious gum disease, which is definitely contributing to the overall load on my

immune system and inflammation levels. Tackling that will require several rounds of deep

cleaning/ root planing and scaling, which is also not covered by insurance, and which I

currently do not have the funds for. The last few months have left me in a very difficult position

not able to continue to try to find a way to get well, or at least stop getting worse, as well a

finding myself in somewhat dire circumstances with regard to basic needs. I hate asking for

help but cannot deny I really do need as much help as I can get right now.