Nun's rare illness spurs new approach to life

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Most people would not see a chronic, progressive, debilitating disease as a blessing, or call themselves "one of the lucky ones." Mercy Sister Peggy Mahoney must not be most people.

Sister Mahoney, director of planned giving for the Wilmington Diocese, was diagnosed in 2003 with polymyositis, an autoimmune disease marked by weakness and inflammation of the muscles - usually beginning with those closest to and within the trunk of the body, such as the neck, shoulders, hips and back, according to the Myositis Association. She started seeing doctors in March 2002 when she had difficulty walking up a flight of steps; it took a year and a half for her to be diagnosed. "I have never had pain," she said. "I have aches, discomfort, periods of weakness." Sister Mahoney feels she is lucky because she has been "forced to find that balance" in life that so many people talk about but rarely achieve. She doesn't have the same energy she once did, so she doesn't feel guilty if she can't fulfill every request made of her. "I've had to draw back a little bit. I've learned to say no sometimes," she told The Dialog, the official publication of the Diocese of Wilmington. "I have to pace myself. You have to re-evaluate everything. And that's hard." That doesn't mean she isn't busy. In her position with the diocese, Sister Mahoney talks to people about providing for the church in their wills or through donations. She meets with pastors throughout the diocese. Before coming to Wilmington last fall, she worked for her congregation, the Religious Sisters of Mercy, raising money for retired religious. The 59-year-old Philadelphia native spent 13 years teaching primary school and several years as a director of religious education before moving into development. Polymyositis is rarely fatal but it can be debilitating and even temporary remission is rare, according to information posted on the Mayo Clinic Web site. Sister Mahoney said only 30,000-50,000 people in the United States have polymyositis, which makes it hard to get funding for research and drugs that might combat its effects. There is no definitive cause for the illness. Treatment includes corticosteroids, anti-inflammatory drugs and physical therapy. "Most people do well, but it takes a period of years for the drugs to kick in," Sister Mahoney said. One of the more frustrating aspects of the last three and a half years was the difficulty doctors had in diagnosing the illness, she said. She saw her regular doctor, a cardiologist and a rheumatologist and tried various treatments without success before Dr. Bryan DeSouza, a neurophysiologist in Philadelphia who was familiar with polymyositis, told her what she had. "I thought, 'Oh my God, my life is going to change.' And it did change," she said, in some ways for the better. She said she has started eating better and exercising more to deter the atrophying of her muscles. She said she realizes she may have to start using a cane or a wheelchair at some point. "With a chronic illness, it never gets better, it never goes away," she said. Not surprisingly, Sister Mahoney views her illness through the lens of faith. "I was mad at God for a little while," she said, but she realized God did not cause her to develop the illness and doesn't "sit up there" wondering how he can make someone's life miserable. Now she wonders what God wants her to learn from her illness. "This for me is an opportunity to become more aware of life around me. What is it that I'm supposed to be learning? There's something here to learn about life, about people, about God," she said. She is determined not to let the disease take over her life or define who she is. Though the illness "shapes" her, she said, "I am not my disease." Editor's note: More information about polymyositis is available at www.Myositis.org.

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