My rheumatologist’s office is almost two hours away from my home. He is highly regarded in his field, so I make the trip to see him every three months. I trust him to give me good advice. Starting at my first appointment, he has asked many questions and listened carefully…
Living with lupus makes me feel a little precarious. I can’t fully enjoy the little victories in my health due to the fear that they’ll immediately be followed by a downhill slide. Last year was a doozy: For most of the year, I seemed to move endlessly from one…
When your list of chronic illnesses keeps getting longer, it’s hard to find things to be grateful for. It is so easy to sink into a deep depression and think that you will never be happy again. These kinds of thoughts can become self-fulfilling prophecies. Slowly but surely, I…
After three years, some things are finally leveling out for me. When I was diagnosed with lupus three years ago, I really felt that the entire rug had been pulled out from under my life. In fact, it had. When you are told your body has turned against you and…
My doctor sent me for a sleep study after my husband told him how loudly I snored. I tried to tell them that it wasn’t that bad, but as it turned out, it was. The night of the study, they put a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine…
It doesn’t matter who you are, you have problems. We all have problems. I always say that even babies cry. We are all works in progress, and there is not one thing perfect about any of us. Sometimes, “healthy” people look on those who are not as if they are…
Being an adult isn’t anything like I imagined it. I also never imagined being diagnosed with a chronic illness at the start of my 20s. When I was younger, the idea of being an adult was exciting. Freedom, responsibility, and control seem to be things we want until they are…
Lupus ‘brain fog’ is aptly named When I am tired or under a lot of stress, my brain gets foggy. The official name for this is cognitive dysfunction, but it’s commonly referred to as brain fog because it’s like trying to find your way in a dark, dense…
Lupus sucks. Let’s just acknowledge that from the onset. I was living an awesome life, and then it came to a screeching halt. Lupus was pretty aggressive with me. Almost immediately, I felt anxiety and confusion, and eventually, anger. These are signs of depression, but I didn’t know that at…
Everyone is entitled to a bad day. But for me, “bad” can’t seem to contain itself to just 24 hours. It usually comes in waves that last weeks or months. The defiant optimist in me likes to think that, in a way, I need bad days because they help…