Lupus and Me

My Lupus Story - How did it happend?

Hi, my name is Ratcha and I have lupus. Welcome to my Lupus site. I am glad to be able to share my Lupus experiences with you. I have been living with this condition for almost 16 years. Living with joint pains and fatique are parts of me. It would be so not me if I don't wake up with achy and pain. I would be blessed if this happen! I would be so happy!

Once upon a time in Thailand, I took a crowded bus to school. It was very hot and humid as usual. I might have been in the sun and heat too long that I fainted right on the bus where I had to stand and hold on to the rail. I kneed down on the bus floor and tried to gain my strength back. Fortunately, I recovered quick and went right straight to the classroom. When I looked back to this incident, I thought to myself, hmm, this might have been my earlier Lupus sign. I was always weak and fatique in the sun which I didn't know why.

When I moved to the United States in 1990, I started to noticed gradually that I had lost a lot of weight. My knees would swollen, tendered and very painful in Summer and my fingers would get so cold and turned blue in Winter. Quite often, I ran warm water over my hands just to make them feel good. Then in the Summer of 1991, my husband and I went back to Thailand to visit my family. We spent some time on a beach and a lot of time outdoor in the sun light. I started to feel strage and very tired. On the flight back Maryland, I got sick on an airplane and I couldn't remember much of anything after that. We stopped in Seattle to check me in one of the hospitals. Doctors thought that I had Lupus. I didn't remember how I was treated. When we got to Maryland, I was admitted to a hospital right away and I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) with a doubt of central nervouse system involvement.

I had to face many challenges during college years. I would wear clothes that covered my arms and legs. I had to wear hat and sunscreen every time I left home. People would look at me when I took my pills after lunch in the cafeteria but I didn't care. They probably wondered what I was popping or what was wrong with me. Luckily, a lot of my friends and my teachers were awared of my Lupus conditions and they were very understanding and supportive.

When I was diagnosed with Lupus in 1992, I was a junior student at Baltimore City Community College. I was not quite sure what major would I be studied. When I got sicked and hospitalized for 2 months, it was cleared to me that I wanted to be a nurse. After a long recovery from a coma that Lupus gave me, I volunteered in the hospital and finished up my community college.   In 1994, I enrolled in nursing program at University Of Maryland at Baltimore. Then in 1996, I graduated with my BS in Nursing. I have worked in nursing home and hospital in Maryland for the past 8 years.

Sharing my story with people like you is one way to help me cope with my conditions. I hope my story will at least help or inspire people with Lupus and family members and help them cope with the conditions.  There is always hope and don't ever give up dreaming big!  You have the power to change things. Your positive thinking will empower you to fight and win a battle.

I'm very fortunated that my Lupus is now in remission and I just got a good news from my doctor that my anti-dna level is normal. I am on very low dose prednisone now (2.5 mg). I used to take 20 mg of prednisone! For many years, I thought I'd never have a child of my own. With many helps from doctors and many intrauteral and invitro fertilization processes later, I am now a mother of two lovely twin girls.   You can visit my blog I write about the twins at http://www.twiceasniceordoubletrouble.blogspot.com to see and read about the girls. They are my everyday joy and motivation! Now I just have to make sure I don't get too stressed out! Please take time and take a look around the site. Book mark it so you can come back and share your story with me and readers. And please let me know how I can make this LUPUS better. Thank you for visiting, Ratcha.

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