In honor of Lupus Awareness Month, I thought I’d give you guys a little background on my health journey.
I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is 2015, but my chronic illness actually began in 2010... It started with a trip to Patient First and a very thorough doctor who checked and found that I had a positive ANA. I was then sent to a rheumatologist who ignored my symptoms, misdiagnosed, and mistreated me for 5 long years. In those years I struggled with debilitating fatigue, joint pain/swelling, migraines and brain fog. I also developed pretty bad widespread joint pain, swelling in my fingers, chest pain and shortness of breath. I was finally diagnosed with lupus in April of 2015 at Johns Hopkins and what I thought would be the end of a long painful time in my life, ended up being the start of a lifetime journey of struggle and triumph. Since then there have been countless hours spent in doctors office, unknown amounts of money on treatments/tests/procedures, many days and nights in the hospital or bedridden, and so much more. I have made progress and had setbacks...spent nights crying and days being thankful... My life is nothing like it used to be before getting sick and it has been a tough road to accepting that (some days I’m not sure that I full have still). Lupus is such an unpredictable disease, and I have had to make peace with not knowing what each day will bring, but I am here and I will keep fighting until we find a cure! 💜
