Like a lion hiding in the underbrush before it pounces on its spied prey, the symptoms and severity of lupus and other auotimmune diseases can sneak up you when you are least prepared for it. One day you may be feeling like your old self before the disease took root, super strong, active and as healthy as the next person. The next day you may literally collapse, a rash spreading across your skin, … [Read more...]
This morning, bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote the much beloved memoir Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, asked a favor of her readers on Facebook. Almost daily, she shares inspiration and wisdom that I and countless others feel called to share with friends. Today was no different. Glibert shared a candid, unpolished photo of … [Read more...]
I still remember the day I sat in my then-rheumatologist’s office more than a decade ago, fatigued and broken, seeking yet another treatment, desperate for solutions. Seemingly helpless in the fight against insomnia, suffering from daily migraines, brain fog and digestion problems and saddled with excruciating pain, numbness and pins-and-needles sensation of misbehaving nerves, I was so physically … [Read more...]
In the year and a half that we’ve been together, I’m managed to keep this part of me hidden from my love. It wasn’t a conscious decision for me to hide it from him it just turned out that way. He just happened to catch me in mostly good spell. And while I had occasional flare ups outside of his company, I had never showed signs of my movement disorder, dystonia, in front of him. That’s not to say … [Read more...]
Unlike most of my peers, I spent the majority of my twenties living through the physical and emotional rollercoaster of a mysterious chronic illness that literally turned my life upside down. At my lowest point, I had suddenly and inexplicably lost 12 percent of my body weight, couldn’t walk the short distance from the front door to my mailbox, was living with unceasing muscle spasms and constant … [Read more...]
Last Tuesday night, I was filled with the kind of bubbling anxiety that reminded me of the night before a big trip. I preferred thinking about it that way, as if I was heading off to a distant and unknown land and I needed to be prepared for the long journey ahead. I went to make the next day’s lunch and put together my breakfast so that all I would need to do was add almond milk and water to … [Read more...]
On Monday, a surprising and promising new development in autoimmune research was announced to the scientific world. An animal version of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was found to have protective properties against the development of lupus in mice prone to getting the autoimmune disease. Prior studies suggested that the opposite was true—that EBV had the potential to increase the … [Read more...]
by Renée Canada When I was in the clock-ticking years of my late 20s, I happily watched a number of my friends and former classmates become mothers and fathers. Ironically, while I was probably expected to be the first of my group of friends to have children, it was turning out that I would be among that last, even after those friends who had vehemently declared they would never be parents. Yet … [Read more...]
by Renée Canada Yesterday was such a gorgeous day. The air was no longer swampy and wet, the sun not scorching and unbearable to be in its path. I opened the bedroom window and deeply breathed in that fresh air, enjoying every breath. Part of the joy I was feeling on Wednesday was that it marked four days since I had last experienced a crippling involuntary muscle movement. I was afraid to write … [Read more...]
by Renée Canada Last week, I finally took the big step of firing my rheumatologist. I decided to stop the chemo that I've been on for four months with no significant improvement on my dystonia or the autoimmune diseases we thought were causing it. There had to be a better alternative. After our recent appointment, I told my neurologist that I wanted to try treat my disease naturally. After … [Read more...]