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The Slidell location serves the communities of the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, metropolitan New Orleans, and adjacent Mississippi communities.
The Lafayette Group, our affiliate, serves the needs of scleroderma patients in southwestern Louisiana. For more information about this group see "About Us - Lafayette Support Group"
North Louisiana Scleroderma Support Group Shreveport held its first meeting on August 10, 2002. This group will be able to reach scleroderma patients in the northern part of our state. For more information about this group see "About Us - North Louisiana Scleroderma Support Group"
Anyone living in Louisiana or in a nearby region of Mississippi is encouraged to join us. Membership is free.
This site will provide information about the Support Groups and their activities as well as attempt to keep readers up to date on current scleroderma treatment and research.
SUPPORT GROUP PURPOSE
A support group is a means of gathering together people with scleroderma and their families and friends to offer emotional support through an exchange of information and sharing.
The support group provides a place for people to gain increased knowledge and understanding about scleroderma from people who are undergoing, or having experience with, the problems they are facing.
We believe that people may improve their ability to cope more successfully through talking with others who share the same life situation.
We would like very much to put on line your story for others to read.
Telling your story can be transforming. And you can never know how your story will benefit others. When I read other people's stories it inspires me to look at my life with a new perspective. You will also gain from speaking about your own life. Here are a few points to consider how you can improve your own life and help others by sharing:
1. You move through the silence and secrecy that keeps you isolated.
2. You move through denial and acknowledge the the truth of your disease.
3. You make it possible to get understanding and help.
4. You get more in touch with your feelings.
5. You get a chance to see your experiences, and yourself, through the compassionate eyes of a supporter.
6.You make space in relationships for the kind of intimacy that comes from honesty and trust.
7. You establish yourself as a person who has the courage to deal with the illness. You are stronger than you think.
8. You join a courageous community of men and women who are no longer willing to suffer in silence.
9. You help end public ignorance on your disease by breaking the silence in which it thrives.
10.You become a model for other survivors.
11.You eventually feel proud and strong.
Remember this in your daily lives. I am never reluctant to speak about scleroderma. I want everyone to know of the disease and the pain it can bring into so many lives. Only by increasing awareness and educating the public can we succeed in increasing research projects that will one day find the cure.
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"We are one another's angels"
Nevada Barr Founders and co-leaders Shirley Walterhouse and Maxine Konrick
Maxine was diagnosed in 1997 with a disease of which she had never heard. She was desperate to find someone to talk to and after many phone calls found a brochure on which she saw a name and phone number. And that she says "is how I found my friend Shirley".
Shirley had been diagnosed for 15 years and as a retired registered nurse, she had acted as a referral person for a local dermatologist. After meeting Maxine, she agreed to help start a support group. DISCLAIMER
We do not promote, support, or recommend any particular treatment for scleroderma or any other disease. No treatment should be undertaken without the supervision of a physician. These pages are intended to educate and inform. Consult your physician about any information you receive.
Our free monthly newsletter "INSIGHT" is now on line.
Issues will be changed monthly.
To read the October issue, click the link below.
Scleroderma INSIGHT |
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