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I am a wreck. And I am sure that plenty of us feel this way after lupus comes to steal our energy and bodies. It either adds weight or removes it. I went from a curvy girl weighing in the 170s down to a bony girl who at…

If I’ve learned one thing about living with an invisible illness, it’s that my life exists in limbo. Though I generally tend to feel good, I live knowing that in the last two years, I’ve never once felt as healthy as I did before diagnosis. I know…

Once upon a time, I was a big extrovert. I was out so frequently, having dinner with friends, hosting events for my fashion blog, and of course, I had a career selling real estate. That job took me to a ton of networking events, conferences, and seminars. To…

When I think about love, I think of my parents. Though they’ve been together for the better part of 35 years, the best word I’d use to describe their relationship is not “everlasting” (though that would be a close second), but rather “enduring.” As I’ve watched them grow…

Lupus is cruel. It flips your entire life on its head. It robs you of so much, and it loves women for some reason. Men get it, but the vast majority of those suffering are female. We live in a society that says even the healthiest women should…

Dependency is part of the human experience. A large majority of the early years of our lives are spent relying on parents and guardians to teach us the ins and outs of life. If you’re lucky enough to make it to old age, you’ll once again find yourself…

I’m tired. I don’t want to do this anymore. I want the energy and the muscle tone that I once had. I wake up and, some days, I cannot reach behind me because the pain in my shoulders is so bad. I can hardly walk up the block,…

Lupus is a big, black question mark in every sense. Of course, there’s the fact that there’s no cure, but even more frustrating is that we’re left without a cause, either. While the prospect of living with a chronic illness for the rest of your life is definitely…

Lupus is a part of me, and like a baby, it’s something I need to nurture, pay attention to. But at times, I neglect my lupus so much that someone could call the Administration for Children’s Services on me. I never asked for this cranky brat that changed my life,…

I am a vegetarian who occasionally slips up and eats a piece of chicken. I became a vegetarian because it made me feel better and gave me more energy. Also, I began to research the foods I was putting in my mouth and, quite frankly, I started to…