"I sold the bale wagon, I sold the cattle, I nearly sold the farm!"
When Buck Scotton received a diagnosis of scleroderma, a condition for which no cause or cure is known, he believed it was all over.
Since then, however, he's discovered new hope, and a new way of life.
A Mayfair area farmer, Scotton has been struggling with physical anomalies such as bouts of inexplicable pain, muscle weakness and itchy or painful skin for the last 20 years, but, frustratingly, no one could tell him what was wrong with him.
Eventually he had to give up grain farming; he couldn't stand the pain the vibration from the tractor sent through his body.Even riding in a vehicle had become a trial to endure.
He'd also had to quit fishing, as well as carving wooden birds, a 30-year hobby, because the skin on his hands was becoming stiff, increasingly disabling his fingers.
He'd even gone so far as to talk to Kramer Auction Sales about selling his land.
Now, at 70, Scotton is still on his farm and has a new lease on life. He has taken up a new hobby at - it has to be said - the urging of his wife Ellyn.
Having being forced into retirement by his health, even before the diagnosis of scleroderma was even made, Buck was not only depressed, he was bored. So his wife arranged for him to take up a new activity.
"She was fed up with me being in the kitchen," he laughs.
He had once, years ago, painted her a picture, which Ellyn had loved, so in May of 2009 she signed him up for painting classes in Mayfair with artist Yvette Heide.
"It was eight women and me," laughs Buck.
Although his hands were growing stiff, he could hold a paintbrush, and did well enough, it seems, that the instructor encouraged him to continue once the class was over.
Watching television one day, he discovered Jerry Yarnell and the Jerry Yarnell School of Fine Art program.
"He made it look so easy!" says Buck.
So he watched the "paint along" show, and family members bought him some of the accompanying instructional books. With three daughters and nine grandchildren, he had lots of encouragement.
Buck says he just followed Yarnell's instructions to duplicate a painting in one of these books, and, "in no time I was painting the blinking thing!"
Inspired, he has reproduced many of Yarnell's art exercises, and has painted many originals of his own as well. He has prints made of them all and enjoys giving them as gifts. He has also donated several to benefits and fundraisers.
Taking up painting even while struggling with the challenges of scleroderma is not what one would expect from the average farmer in his 60s, particularly when one's hands are so extraordinarily affected. But Ellyn gazes proudly at Buck's paintings and says, "Not bad for an old farmer!"
Ellyn is supportive of her husband's hobby. She has even fitted some of his paintbrushes with the kind of rubber applications used to enable kindergarten hands to make use of adult-size brushes.
Buck applies the paint in whatever way works best without increasing the underlying pain that's always there. For example, he can turn his wrists when his arms are at a certain angle, but not otherwise, without causing pain. Whenever he paints, depending on how his hands are feeling, he does whatever it takes to get the paint where he wants it, turning out landscapes and still lifes in acrylic on canvas.
He always wears gloves outdoors to protect his hands from the cold, and often wears light cotton gloves indoors to protect his fingers from chafing. Sometimes he even has to wear them to sleep.
But, despite the rigidity of his fingers, he is still able to fix the fences and corrals on his farm, so he has kept his land and rents out his pasture. Keeping the fences in good repair and caring for the renter's cattle is good exercise he says.
Proud of his being able to swing a hammer as needed, he says a few years ago he couldn't do nearly the work he can do today.
Like arthritis, scleroderma is thought to be an auto-immune disorder, and it manifests itself differently with each patient. In Buck's case, it began 20 years ago with the skin of his abdomen becoming stiff and leathery, accompanied by pain. It was thought at one time that it could even be the condition known as shingles.
But as other symptoms came along, there was still no answer.
It was when he was struck by an overwhelming weakness while helping to prepare for a drama night in Mayfair that he ended up in hospital in Saskatoon. It was during the resulting eight-day hospitalization three and a half years ago Buck was given the diagnosis of scleroderma.
Since then his scleroderma has been managed and monitored by rheumatologists, and he is one of 86 scleroderma patients in a provincial study group initiated by well-known rheumatologist Dr. Janet Markland.
At the time of his diagnosis, it was believed to have involved his lungs, a serious complication of scleroderma, and the reason he believed his life was coming to an end.
But since then, his lungs have been found to be uninvolved. Buck and Ellyn believe the help they received from a naturopathic doctor, Dr. Garry Shafer of Sherwood Park, Alta., has something to do with that. Dr. Shafer got Buck started on Swedish Bitters, a blend of bitter herbs and vegetables used for centuries to improve circulation and digestion.
In addition to the lungs showing up clear in tests six weeks after starting on the Swedish Bitters, his concentration is improved and the skin on his arms and hands has more elasticity, says Buck.
Although his feet and lower legs are now involved, it appears it has not involved his face or internal organs, which is good news for Buck and Ellyn.
They continue to manage his scleroderma with the help of traditional health care and naturopathic remedies, a blend that seems to serve Buck well.
In addition to that, of course, is his new love for painting. Perhaps happiness is the best therapy after all.
According to the Scleroderma Society of Canada,it is estimated that there are as many as 40,000 cases of scleroderma in Canada. Scleroderma is thought to affect more people than Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy or Cystic Fibrosis
The exact cause of scleroderma is not known, but there are theories related to the immune system and to the vascular system. While the cause of scleroderma is not known it is believed scleroderma is neither contagious, nor inherited.
