Trying to get better with a chronic illness is a long road filled with massive roadblocks. The symptoms of being sick are standing in the way of trying to recover. If you have a chronic illness or an autoimmune disease then you’ve likely wondered how on earth you’ll overcome the daunting obstacle of trying to get better when you feel miserable. And while we may be filled with hope and perseverance at the beginning of our journey, the years wear […]
Category: My Life
2019 Yearly Digest.
This is my fifth yearly digest since my blog began in July 2015, and I really love writing them. I enjoy going through my files, documents, statistics, and photos to relive the last year – it’s amazing how quickly I’ll forget what happened just six or seven months ago. When I started writing the digests I figured they would mostly be for my benefit, but over 200 people read my 2018 digest. That’s not a huge number, but I’m impressed […]
When Your Doctor Quits Unexpectedly.
I spent a week debating whether or not to send my rheumatologist a message about my increasing joint pain. While my finger and knee joints were aching badly, there wasn’t likely anything we could do about it via message. Ultimately, I decided to take prednisone a tad more liberally than usual to cope until my next appointment so I could discuss it in person with my doctor. A few days later, at the end of a particularly stressful weekend filled […]
Birth and Lupus: Baby Meena’s Birth Story.
Today Baby Meena is one year old. Yes, it has taken me a year to finish writing his birth story. I wrote down many details in the first two weeks, intending to get the story out much sooner, but I was somewhat traumatized from giving birth and had to stop reliving it in my mind for a while. Life was also really hard with a newborn as a parent with lupus. I have struggled mightily in all areas of my life […]
2018 Yearly Digest.
At the end of 2017, I wrote in my yearly digest that I never expected that year to be so full of struggles and new beginnings. I had no idea what was coming. Pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum. Being unable to travel, taking small trips, and then a dream vacation. Lupus flares, pleurisy, immobility, pain. A new bird, and almost losing my old one. A newborn, a teething baby, a baby who’s starting to crawl… it’s been hard and tough and wonderful […]
Lupus and Pregnancy in the Third Trimester.
The third trimester of my pregnancy didn’t have nearly as many sweet spots as the second trimester, unfortunately. It turned out to be quite difficult. Of course, lupus and pregnancy mixed together is never going to be easy. I was able to cope fairly well with most of the issues I encountered until the last two weeks – at that point I was just outright miserable. In this post I’ll be sharing about my medical care, lupus symptoms, and pregnancy symptoms. In […]
The Second Trimester of Being Pregnant with Lupus.
It turned out to be true for me that the second trimester was the sweet spot of pregnancy. A lot of my first trimester symptoms faded or disappeared entirely and I didn’t experience many new or intense pregnancy woes until the second trimester was nearing its end. Being pregnant with lupus meant that it wasn’t completely smooth sailing, of course. I had more doctor’s appointments, medications, and potential complications compared to the average pregnant woman, and I’ll share them all here along […]
My Lupus Pregnancy: The First Trimester.
I’m so excited to share the news of my lupus pregnancy! I have to admit that I really didn’t expect the word ‘pregnancy’ to enter into my personal vocabulary in 2017. It has been a whirlwind of prenatal education, doctors’ appointments, and brand new experiences over the past few months. In this post, I’m going to share my first trimester lupus pregnancy journey with you partially because it’s a great way for me to document it but also because having lupus […]
2017 Yearly Digest.
At the beginning of 2017 Mr. Meena and I had been back in the USA, after living in Germany, for less than 100 days. We were living in an apartment of our own choosing for the first time and generally feeling very conflicted about the direction of our lives. I guess repatriation tends to do that to you. Now, 12 months later, we are settling into our first house, preparing to have a baby (!!), and feeling much more certain about […]
A Day in the Life with Lupus.
Have you ever wondered what life with lupus might be like? As one of the 1.5 million people in the U.S. and about five million people worldwide with lupus, I want to share a day in my life with you. In case you aren’t familiar with lupus, I’ll give you a brief introduction. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that makes your body self-destruct. Normal, healthy people have an immune system that works properly and kicks into gear when there is […]