Weather is a trigger for lupus. When I was a kid, I would hear older people predict rain based on their arthritis. Well, lupus doesn’t allow me to predict the weather, but I can tell you it seems that when there is dampness in the air, my little…
I was a lot of things before lupus, and my diagnosis hasn’t changed. Of course, it is undeniable that my life has been altered by chronic illness, but not nearly as much as many might assume. When I think about what I’m capable of, my mind doesn’t go…
Life has been so unpredictable since my lupus diagnosis. It seems like so many of us with lupus make plans with the best intentions, and have to cancel because of the challenges the disease can pose. I am a social butterfly by nature. I used to attend a…
Some might be ashamed of their status as someone with chronic illness, however, I’m not. I wouldn’t say that I’m proud of it, but it’s also not something that I’ll ever work to hide from the world. In fact, I’ll endeavor to share it as much as…
Most women make resolutions at the start of the year to lose weight. That was not my resolution. I loved my curves, especially my legs. I’m always in a great pair of high heels. I am, after all, the Hurricane in Heels. I was on the go, and wearing…
Part of living with lupus is knowing that your body lives outside of the norm. It means accepting that, for the most part, you have no predictable sleeping pattern, and if you should be lucky enough to regulate one, it’s pretty messed up. Living with lupus means…
There is no cure for lupus. As far as I know, there is no known cause for it, either. When I was first diagnosed, people who meant well would send me articles that mentioned cures. I know better than to buy into that hype, but a lupus patient…
Timid is an adjective that would’ve been used to describe me throughout my entire life. I just wasn’t born aggressive. When all the other kids were dying to bowl each other over to get to the ball, you’d find me trailing behind the pack, out of the action.
I have worn glasses since I was eight years old. I mostly wore glasses for driving at night, and for reading something far away. Because of this, I rarely wore my glasses to school. Then one day I woke up, 38 years old, and I couldn’t read the labels on…
I’m smiley, optimistic, and happy-go-lucky; it’s the way I’ve always been. I take everything in my stride, which is not to say that I don’t get knocked down. But no matter how many times or how hard I go down, I always get back up with a…