August 28, 2024
For Cindy Singleton, an IT product manager at Labcorp, being diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease forever changed the way she lives. "The most difficult thing is not being able to go out in the sun," she said. "I was a very outdoorsy person before; I used to show horses. Now I stay inside, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m." Singleton first started noticing symptoms about six years ago. She developed Raynaud's syndrome, which caused her hands to turn blue and lose circulation. Soon after, an itchy rash appeared all over her body. For months, her doctor thought it was just dermatitis. But when Singleton visited her dermatologist for her annual check-up, the dermatologist recognized the distinctive rashes as a sign of something more serious. A biopsy confirmed dermatomyositis, and Singleton was prescribed creams to help manage the itching."I'd never heard of it before," Singleton said. "It was all new to me."