Happy Lupus Awareness Month! Many of us affected by lupus and its many associated illnesses have vowed to share our experiences to help people understand what its like living with a chronic silent condition for which there is no cure and symptoms so varied that many go undiagnosed for decades. Many of us dont look sick and the majority of us dont talk about it because nobody truly gets it unless you live it - or live with someone who does. We often slap on a characteristic smile and push through the pain on bad days. We lie through our gritted teeth and blame our limping on old injuries or arthritis rather than let people know the truth for fear of losing our jobs or friends. We forget the illness on good days and go back to life as we once knew it only to be slapped down as payback for overdoing it. We feel guilty when we cant do all the things we used to or we push ourselves to the limit because we are too proud to admit defeat. Lupus rarely strikes as a single disease - preferring, like its namesake the wolf, to run in packs - so most of us also know all too well things like Sjorenjens & Reynauds Syndrome, RA, MS, UTIs, Fibro, Scleritis and a host of other insidious attackers that sometimes act singly but more often attack as a pack when you let your guard down...And you never really know what it is at any given moment that youve done to provoke the latest attack when your body turns on you...stress, lack of sleep, exhaustion, sunlight, fluorescent lighting, exposure to chemicals, food allergies, other unrelated illnesses, airborne allergens, any and all of the above can trigger a flare. Lupus and auto-immune disorders are a way of life for too many, in my family alone there have been 5 generations affected...so this month, I will not hide it, I will use my voice to educate - not to whine or complain but hopefully to help others.
Posted on: Thu, 01 May 2014 13:14:47 +0000
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