On Jan. 1, 2016, I went to Daytona Beach, Florida, reconciled my life, went home, wrote my last wishes and had them legalized, then called my family to tell them where to find the documents. It was the year of the tombstone. That’s what I jokingly started calling…
Last June, I spent a month on the other side of the world holidaying in the European sun with my sister. In true millennial fashion, I couldn’t help but fill my friends’ Instagram feeds with a seemingly endless stream of photos of my adventures in foreign lands. And…
I remember the first time I learned about photosensitivity and how the blazing South Florida sun was affecting my disease state. For more than 20 years of my life, I lived in Fort Lauderdale, where almost every single day is hot and sunny, and often humid. Though my…
When I moved to Thailand, a little more than a year ago, I was a vegetarian. When I arrived, I was roughly 109 pounds, but it was not because I decided not to eat meat. Lupus caused me to lose massive amounts of weight…
Over the years, sleep has become one of the most-discussed topics in the lupus community, and with good reason. How long we sleep, and the quality of our sleep, may often have the greatest influence on how our day will progress. Personally, I didn’t pay much attention to how…
We all have a vision for our lives. As youngsters, we often were asked what we wanted to be when we grow up. We learn if we are introverts or extroverts and more. I always have been very social and quite talkative. I didn’t shy away from crowds…
Through the time that surrounds the day that confirmed my lupus diagnosis, there is one thing that stands out clearly. As my nephrologist explained what lupus was and the different treatment options that were available, he introduced a phrase that will stay with me forever. He stated…
Can substantial support, or lack of it, affect outcomes for a person living with chronic illness? Simply put, yes. Study after study is showing that support has a direct impact on disease outcomes for patients. After learning how important support was early on…
We have spent all of our lives in a place that we take for granted, a place that we think we completely control — our bodies. Then we start feeling things that are unexplained, and a diagnosis comes to let us know that we only thought we were…
Ask anyone with a chronic illness, such as lupus, about some of the biggest challenges they face on a regular basis. One of the biggest issues you will hear about is employment. Working is tough – on one hand, we never know when a flare is going to occur…