It’s so easy to jump on the woe-is-me, this-isn’t-fair, what-did-I-do-to-deserve-this bandwagon and shout, kick, and scream at the awful “bad luck” and horrible timing of chronic, incurable sickness. Feeling like a victim and falling into grief can seem inescapable when unprovoked pain, flares of skin rashes, hair…
As one year ends and another begins, many employers give job performance evaluations. That’s when, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, they or their supervisors commend workers for the impact they’ve made on the company and any recognizable or measurable outcomes they’ve helped produce. It’s also…
January 2025 was a month of civics lessons for anyone watching the news. We heard the term “executive order” more times than many of us care to count. While Americans are experiencing a crash course in U.S. government, that political term “executive order” can help pose an important question to…
Near the end of 2024, the support group Lupus in Color posted the following “lupus serenity prayer” on Instagram: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the changes and challenges of living with lupus, the courage to face each day with strength, and the wisdom to do what’s good…
It’s amazing the number of times we hear people speak negatively about themselves or their circumstances. Staying free from the doldrums is a challenge when living with chronic, rare conditions. Honestly, who can stay positive when your body is home to an immune system that attacks and attacks and attacks?…
One of the most horrendous aspects of living with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is dealing with the additional diseases and chronic conditions that lupus causes. Lupus is insidious; it ushers in more symptoms and new diagnoses without warning and then releases a brutal, wolfish attack. It’s torturous being the…
About 200 million people worldwide, including almost 68 million Americans, use Open AI’s ChatGPT weekly, according to Backlinko. In January 2024, the average ChatGPT session lasted 13 minutes, 35 seconds. There are many contrasting opinions about using artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT to understand critical issues like…
Every day, and every minute of every day, systemic lupus erythematosus makes you sick. I get it. It’s not the reality that anyone plans for. It’s not some punishment for a supposed sin. Nor does it happen because we’ve intentionally exposed ourselves to toxins or malnourishment. Lupus. Sjögren’s…
Hester Prynne is being condemned for a private act that became a public sin. After being freed from jail, she’s led to stand on a scaffold before a crowd of villagers. She’s holding her 3-month-old baby and wearing an embroidered letter “A” on her cloak, both attesting to what she…
More than 20 years ago, Christine Miserandino explained living with systemic lupus erythematosus, the most common form of lupus, as having only a metaphorical “12 spoons” of energy a day. Her spoon theory does a great job of representing the tightrope walk of survival that…