I have been thinking about how grateful I am for life!!! Yes...Life!  Especially during COVID-19.   

In the month of May we bring awareness to the Disease "LUPUS." I am have started a team to walk for a cure.

I was diagnosed over 28 years ago and most people have no clue that I am diagnosed. (For that....I am grateful!) However, most are uneducated about the disease and the hardship that comes along with it.  

I remember when I was diagnosed.  I thought I was perfectly healthy.  I was a little over weight and I had issues with high blood pressure.  Of course I thought that was hereditary.....Until the day I was I was walking the back hallway of North Central University and all of a sudden, I took one step to walk down the stairs and I woke up in Hennepin County Medical Center ICU.  (I was told that I tumbled down two flights of cement stairs.  What a Miracle!). The only thing I remember, is feeling my legs go numb and grabbing my chest.  I had a heart attack!  Up until that point, I was perfectly normal.  There was no reason for me to have a heart attack. What they found was that my heart was enlarged and the enlargement had caused me to have a extra hole where blood would pump through it from time to time causing problems. That discovery led the doctors to a series of test.  The results showed that I was in a Lupus Flare....I had no clue what they were talking about.  I had been diagnosed with a disease that has NO cure, (My faith said something different.  I know a GOD that heals all manner of diseases).  

I began to think back on my childhood years and recalled not wanting to play much because my legs and joints would hurt...I remember not having enough stamina to do what other children did.  I remember playing Basketball in college and having to stop because I wasn't able to keep up.  I remember getting the chicken pox at 18 years old, I had two bumps and a sickness that I knew I was going to die from..However, I didn't know that I was battling an incurable disease.

I was diagnosed with SLE...(Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) a chronic multi system autoimmune disorder that can affect nearly every major organ system, causing inflammation, tissue injury, organ damage and ultimately organ dysfunction.  The disease can range from mild to potentially fatal.  Most symptoms are unseen and go unnoticed by individuals who don't suffer from the disease.  Daily I suffer with severe fatigue, joint pain, joint swelling, headaches, hair loss, Ryanair's Phenomenon, issues with my digestive, cardiovascular and nervous systems...(but again, most of the time...no one ever notices and for that, I'm grateful!)

I will admit that over the years the disease has taken its toll on my body.  I have had to deal with several heart issues, (an enlarged heart, congestive heart failure, SVT, Heart Attacks, etc.)  , enlarge stomach muscles (uncommon but it happens) which required me to have my stomach reconstructed.....I have even had my brain to be effected with caused  "seizure" like symptoms and MAJOR brain fog! 

I have found that I can be totally normal one day and a simple change in my environment, can cause a flare....ultraviolet rays, certain medications (that's why I don't take many), viruses in the air, physical or emotional stress and trauma.  

The reason that I am sharing is because I want you to be aware of what a person like myself deals with daily!  But even in all of this, I chose to live by faith..I surely don't look like what I've been through and I will look a lot better in my future.  I know that God is my healer,  James 5:14-15

“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.” So rather God heals me while I am on earth or he grants me the ultimate healing in glory.  I know I serve a God that Can and will heal.  So I celebrate knowing that I will be alright. 

I stay encourage because what I feel in my body has nothing to do with the Bible says. Psalm 119:89 says, “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” God’s Word is true, regardless of our feelings or the circumstances.  I know that ALL IS WELL!!!

Feel free to join my team or donate to finding a cure.  Thank you in advance for your support.