Local Woman Fights a Disease with No Cure

Imagine having an inflammatory disease where your immune system overreacts and damages your body tissue. One Monmouth County resident with this rare disease wants to help find a cure.

It's called Sarcoidosis. You can get it in any organ of your body but it usually effects your lungs. The classic feature of this disease is the formation of granulomas…and these clumps can prevent an organ from functioning properly.

Cathy Wick from Manasquan was diagnosed 14 years ago and lived with Sarcoidosis dormant in her body for about 11 years. But it became active a little over three years ago when she started getting symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue, and exhaustion. She had to leave her job as an RN at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and since then has been focused on raising awareness and funding for research.

Unfortunately, there are still so many things that medical professionals don’t know about Sarcoidosis. They don’t know how you get it, there are no treatments for it, doctors can only treat the symptoms, and there is no cure.

Cathy runs a support group at Jersey Shore University Medical Center to help newly diagnosed patients so that they know where to turn for support.

Some towns in our state, including Manasquan, have even designated April as Sarcoidosis Awareness Month. And Assemblyman Rible is supporting the cause.

On Thursday, April 16th, Cathy will be on the Today Show along with over 40 other patients and advocates. They'll be wearing purple (the color of their ribbon representing Sarcoidosis). Cathy continues to work hard locally and at the state level to bring awareness to, and advocate for, this rare disease both here in our state and nationally. Cathy also recently returned from Washington DC where she supported the Century Cures initiatives and gathered more information on rare diseases.

For more info on the disease, CLICK HERE.