SLE Lupus, unlike Cutaneous which affects the
skin, usually affects some organ(s). Are any of
your organs involved?
Mainly my kidneys, my lungs and to a certain
degree my heart. But to date, I am doing great
and my organs are holding their own, like me,
refusing to fail.
‘My organs are holding their own, like me,
refusing to fail.’ So powerful and empowering.
Your courage is admirable Felicia.
Lupus is a troublesome disease and is often
referred to as “the great imitator” because of
how it mimics other illnesses. Were you ever
misdiagnosed and what are some of the
struggles you encountered?
I think the most frustrating part is not knowing
what is wrong, but knowing that how you feel is
not normal. When I first started feeling really sick
at 19 years old, I went to see an internist back in
St Lucia, who referred me to a Sexually
Transmitted Disease (STD) specialist because
although I wasn’t sexually active, I had all the
symptoms of AIDS.
The doctors were not sure what was wrong with
me, so they had this list of possibly 20
autoimmune diseases and they were
systematically going through the list, doing
diagnosis by elimination. Later on I was also
diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis which
usually accompanies lupus. The symptoms are
similar but is an entirely different condition.
Being young and unable to do so many things and
being in pain constantly was very hard.
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