Support Brenda's Fight with Scleroderma

Hello Friends and Family,

Many of you know that my sister-in-law, Brenda Holicky, has been battling Scleroderma for many years.

Scleroderma (sklair-oh-DUR-muh), also known as systemic sclerosis, is a group of rare diseases that involve the hardening and tightening of the skin. Scleroderma also may cause problems in the blood vessels, internal organs and digestive tract.

The last 6 months have been especially harrowing with many complications because of this disease. There were numerous times we did not know if she was going to pull through.

Her son Jason shares her story below. We are so grateful for any support you may be able to provide and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

During Christmas of 2023 my mom stepped on a small piece of glass. Over the course of the year and many trips to Rochester Mayo, her wound was still unable to heal. On 11/01/2024 she was admitted to St Mary’s Hospital in Rochester. She was started on hyperbaric chamber treatments daily for several weeks and the wound still would not heal. Through further testing they found out that her blood flow to her wound was poor and they decided to take her to surgery to improve the blood flow. The doctors were able to take a large vein from her left leg and put it into her right leg, but they were unable to close up her incisions again. After several attempts to take her back to the OR and daily hyperbaric chambers they still were unable to get her incisions closed. They decided to place a vacuum wound closure system to her incisions and then she was able to come home over Christmas for about a week and was able to go every other day to Rochester as an outpatient. While at home, her new veins in her leg collapsed and she had to be readmitted back to Rochester. In order to fix this new vein graft, she was taken back to the operating room where they tried to open her veins back up. While trying to open the vein up she suffered a large brain bleed and was emergently taken to the operating room to remove the bleed in her brain. This was successful, however about a week later she had another bleed. Despite everyone’s efforts her wounds never healed. She had no other option but to amputate her leg. In order to preserve function, they opted to do a below the knee amputation. Unfortunately, this did not heal and led to her getting an infection. She then had two subsequent amputation surgeries, one above the knee, and the last one removing two more inches of her femur. After being in the hospital since November, and through the grace of God, she was finally able to get strong enough and her wounds to heal enough that she was able to go to rehab on March 28th. She spent two weeks in rehab working several times a day getting strong enough to go home with help. In order for her to return home, she needed to get equipment and make big changes in the house in order for her to be able to get around safely. Her life will not be the same but we as a family are trying to make modifications so she will still be able to have a good quality of life. She misses running after her 3 grandkids. My mom is a fighter and a very proud woman; she is one of the strongest people I have ever met. She has been battling Scleroderma most of my life. She inspires us to keep on fighting no matter what the outcome may be. I am posting this to obtain help for my family due to the large expenses they have incurred these last 6 months. I know times are tough, but anything would be greatly appreciated to help out this amazing women who has been though so much these past years. Thank you for your generosity.