Today’s guest is Dave Hanson, who shares his journey from his first confusing symptoms to finally receiving a diagnosis. It all began in the fall of 2019, when Dave started experiencing unusual symptoms — painful cramps and a vague but unsettling feeling that something wasn’t right. By early 2020, just before the pandemic, he noticed swelling in his hands and went to the ER. With no signs of Raynaud’s, doctors initially diagnosed him with psoriatic arthritis.

It would take another year before he received the correct diagnosis: diffuse cutaneous scleroderma.