The Ultimate Party Crasher: Lupus

Only select people knew I had Lupus prior to 2015... before then, I lived life as a fairly healthy girl who sometimes may have had some slight complications. Then 2015 rolled around and the disease I thought I could handle, the one I rarely thought about, decided to rear its ugly head and take me down a path of destruction that changed my life. My immune system attacked my peripheral nervous system; the symptoms were quite noticeable. I lost the feeling in my legs, from the knee down, and my strength diminished significantly. The combination of the two made walking very difficult. My legs make up a large portion of my 5’6 frame- I couldn’t sense or control where more than half my body was…

I never thought I'd be someone who's be known for having Lupus. People don't know my name but through word of mouth they'll know I'm the girl with Lupus. I never thought a national charity would feature me as a face of Lupus. Lupus took over my life- without my permission. At times it's good and at times I still wonder, "why me?" Many see the good side of it all. Like the times when I feel like I've accomplished something. It's difficult for me to share when things are not so great. It's also difficult for people to know the truth because, well, YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH! Just kidding... slightly...

I recently read an article that inspired me to put myself on the line, to not be scared to embarrass myself, to not be worried about what other people think... so I thought, I love to write and I have a story to tell. I only hope that maybe I can inspire someone, help someone through a rough time, or just make someone smile. For those with Lupus, or any other chronic illness, I say to you, hang on, we will get through this!

Am