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| Karen Williams talks about scleroderma with her husband Charles at their home in Pemberville, Ohio. (Photo: Enoch Wu/Sentinel-Tribune) |
Williams, Pemberville, an administrative assistant at Bowling Green State University, was diagnosed in 2006 with systemic scleroderma, and has been living with the disorder for seven years. An upcoming benefit this month will help her and her family with expenses incurred by her treatment.
"Don't give up, and if there's something wrong with you, find the answer," she said during a recent interview. "Find the answer and then you can fight whatever it is."
Scleroderma, coming from Greek words meaning "hard skin," is an incurable autoimmune disease, which numbers hardening of the skin among its manifestations, according to the Scleroderma Foundation. Symptoms vary widely in kind and severity depending on the individual and the parts of the body affected.