I’m Aware That I’m Rare : Catherine Falardeau (370)

The phaware® interview

In this episode, scleroderma patient, Catherine Falardeau, discusses her road to diagnosis and how a right heart catheterization, led to also being diagnosed with PAH, ILD, Raynaud’s, and Pulmonary Fibrosis. Catherine recently participated in a 108 week clinical trial for the use of TYVASO® in PAH/ILD patients. The trial lasted into Covid, and received FDA approval.

My name is Catherine Falardeau and I have had pulmonary hypertension since 2017 when I got diagnosed. I was working as a contractor here in Florida, and I started experiencing shortness of breath. It got to the point where I could barely go to the mailbox anymore. I had gone to the doctors and they noticed some spots on my face. So they gave me an ANA test to test for autoimmune diseases. In 2015, they told me I had scleroderma. I didn’t know what the heck that was. The scleroderma affects the collagen both externally as well as internally. Due to the fact that I started experiencing such shortness of breath, I went to a pulmonologist. They gave me pulmonary function tests, which I…