When I was first diagnosed with Lupus the doctor tried to explain that some of my life would need to be adjusted. As a 22 year old kid, yes, I was still a kid, I was invincible! Nothing was going to slow me down and I would show all of them that you can lead a normal life no matter what! I focused on that so much that I probably didn't give my body the respect it deserved in the beginning of this battle. I just could not be different . I could not let a disease define me or even take over my life. I thought ignoring everything that I felt was the fight but I was so wrong. I had no idea what life had in store for me and I look back now and just shake my head, could I have changed something
I am not saying that this careless abandonment of what my body was trying to tell me made my Lupus progress faster. All I know is that I was not educated about my disease or the long term effects that it would have on my body. Over the last nine months I have been watching the world go around and around while I stare out of my bedroom window. If I wasn't at work (which most of time I wasn't) I was in bed with the blinds cracked so I could at least see the blue sky. This has left me asking so many questions. How could I have taken better care of my body? Hopefully these suggestions will help someone else who is very young, who believes this disease will just do fine on its own and turns their back on what their body is just trying to tell them. I don't want you to be 33 and asking how did I get here? Why am I not traveling, spending time with friends and may not beadle to have a family of my own?
If you can learn anything from me it is to rest!!!!!! Yes, close those eyes even if you are at work for 10 minutes. Meditate on what your body is trying to tell you. Those pains in your joints, bald spot on your head and sores in your mouth are not there to have a party! Those are your signs that you need to just slow it down a bit. Park a little closer at the store. Turn the water to a cooler temperature when you are showering. Eat LOTS of fruits and vegetables, stay away from processed food. You can never have enough water and when your home on the weekends you can never sleep in toooooooo late!!!! If your body wants to sleep Sunday away....just let it. Your body will thank you on Monday! Most importantly, take your medicine. Some of the medications we have to take seem a lot worse than the actual disease. At least that is what I thought.....so I quit them all about seven years ago. That was a huge eye opener for me! I realized just how much that poison actually helped my Lupus symptoms. It doesn't make it any easier and there are Fridays I will sit and sob because I don't want to take the chemo and I just want to skip one weekend but I have felt the consequences of these actions and never again!
The advantages of getting sick so early in life has taught me that beauty can be found in everything. The sky is bluer to me than to most and the little things that used to jump on my nerves when I was younger have no place in my life now. Time is precious and love is unconditional. So, when you are stuck in bed watching the world go by......just be happy that you had the ability to open your eyes today and see the sky a bit bluer.
No comments:
Post a Comment