When I was six years old, I was diagnosed with the auto immune disease Lupus. My specific type of Lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE, is severe as my hyperactive immune system attacks my healthy organs. To combat my disease and its symptoms, I have endured chemotherapy, undergone kidney biopsies, taken many medications, and much more. Lupus has played a part in the majority of my life and will continue to do so as there is no current cure. However, my disease will always be a factor that I must overcome. Rather than make it a source of distress, I channel it into a motivating force. Lupus empowers me to achieve my goals and realize my dreams in every aspect of my life. I was in third grade when the symptoms began to show, I remember falling asleep in class due to fatigue from anemia. Although I missed school for large chunks of time, I refused lose track of my assignments. Lupus did not severely affect my academic life until the eighth grade. My symptoms were strong at the time and I opted for a new form of chemotherapy deigned to wipeout my entire immune system, stopping my...
Her father's health continued to decline, and it was not until shortly before his death on February 1, 1941 that he was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosis, the same disease that would claim Flannery.
“When I feel good (almost all the time), Crohn’s doesn’t affect school at all,” she said in an e-mail. “It’s when I get so exhausted that I have to miss a day of school. I feel guilty missing school, and depending on the time of year, I get so much work the next day that I have to make up.
The incidence of SLE is 7.6 cases per 100,000 with a prevalence of approximately 68 cases per 100,000 (Bernknopf, Rowley, & Bailey, 2011). It affects women more than men with a 9:1 ratio, and typically affects women of childbearing age (Patel, Fenves, & Colbert, 2012). The mean age of symptom onset was 29 years in the Euro Lupus Project that studied 1000 patients with SLE (“Systemic Lupus Erythematosus”, 2012). Children and older adults are also diagnosed with SLE but at a much lower rate, 8%-15% and 3%-18%, respectively (Arnaud, Mathian, Boddaert, & Amoura, 2010). Patients with ethnic backgrounds have a higher incidence rate with African Americans developing SLE 3-4 times more than Caucasians, unlike drug-induced lupus erythematosus (DILE) which has an equal male to female prevalence yet a higher disease severity in Caucasians (Bernknopf, Rowley, & Bailey, 2011).
Fibromyalgia runs in my family and growing up my little cousin would always cry and would not play with me and I never really understood why. I picked this disease because it runs in the family and I don’t know when I’ll run into it again. I learned ways that could possibly help with the symptoms which I will share with my family. The studies they conducted on the woman were a wonderful thing. It taught me a lot and now I understand a little better the things that have went on with my
...tor(www.lupus.org). “Lupus can be effectively treated, and most people with the disease can lead active and healthy lives”(www.naims.nih.gov). “Although some people with lupus have severe recurrent attacks and are frequently hospitalized, most people with lupus rarely require hospitalization”(www.lupus.org). The patients of lupus who don’t have the type of lupus that affects the organs can live a healthy lifestyle(www.lupus.com).
Celiac Disease was very unknown in the early 2000’s, making it hard for doctors to diagnose. Most people that develop the disease do so during adulthood, but I was born with it. From birth, my immune system would attack the protein found in wheat, rye, malt, oat, and barley; when attacking the protein, the walls of my stomach and intestines were also being damaged. I would have stomach aches and vomit almost every day. Because the doctors had not diagnosed the disease, I continued to eat gluten, and it continued to cause my body to destroy itself.
Point #1: “Lupus is a chronic (6 wks. -Years), autoimmune disease that occurs when your body’s immune system damages any part of your body such as the skin, joints, and organs.”
When I think about the moments leading up to my diagnosis I remember feeling weak, confused, shaky and sleepy. I did not notice that I had began sleeping throughout the day. My body was craving soft drinks like soda and juice but not food. Days would go by and I eventually fell into a deep slumber that I found myself only waking up from to use the bathroom. I knew something was wrong and that if I did not get to a hospital it would get worse. Nothing could have prepared me for the life changing diagnosis I would receive.
Managing lupus is different from person to person. Individuals with lupus can usually live a normal life span. Medications are usually prescribed to patients, although treatment is not required at all times, but most patients will undergo some treatment. Some medications that are often prescribed for people with lupus are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), acetaminophen, corticosteroids, antimalarials and immunomodulating drugs. The treatment goal for lupus is to stop the immune system from attacking & destroying vital organs. Another popular treatment for lupus is simply exercising and eating right.
My motivations in life have always been centered on my desire to maintain independence and happiness. My passions for physical therapy and health originated from those same motivations. Throughout my childhood, I repeatedly found myself in tough situations that required a level of self -dependency and perseverance that I don’t believe many young minds possess. My parents’ divorce put my life on a trajectory that could have easily been destructive. As a young girl, I realized that despite the lack of control I felt in my hardships growing up, I had control over my academic and future successes. I vowed that I would remember the struggles I faced and concentrate my energy on creating a better life for myself. To this day, it is important to me
I continued to take medical classes throughout high school, however, there were quite a few setbacks. Before the start of my sophomore
Where do I begin? I’m lying in bed typing, trying to push through the fatigue. I’m exhausted. No. I’m depleted. But that’s often the case with chronic Lyme disease. What can I say that you don’t already know? Somedays are terrible. Somedays are okay. I feel like a broken record sometimes–repeating the same verbiage day in and day out. Three years into treatment and yes, I’m still sick. Although you probably can’t tell
By the time I was in second grade my mother needed a walker. Because I loved my mother who was my best friend, I hated to see what MS did to her. I still do. It eats me up inside when I think about how the disease is getting worse and worse. I sometimes tell myself that this is as bad as it can get; but I have been wrong about that.
In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that the ultimate good is eudaimonia or happiness and that ergon, the human function, determines what that happiness is. While some may argue that there can be more than one form of the ultimate good other than happiness, Aristotle believes that not all ends are complete. Unlike happiness, wealth for example, is not complete and thus, eudaimonia is the only ultimate good. In order to determine which good or goods happiness consists in, Aristotle asks what the ergon of a human being is, and argues that it consists in activity of the rational part of the soul in accordance with virtue. Aristotle also provides his view of what the best life is and consists of, however, it is illogical to identify a single sort of the best life for everyone, as it should be relative to each person in different ways. Also, the life of study, which is the best life according to Aristotle, is not the only type of life that will bring about happiness. The best life of someone who is ill versus someone who is poor will be different in terms of what it consists of and the happiness it will bring. Aristotle believes that eudaimonia or happiness is the ultimate good and that the best life is guided by rational contemplation; while it is true to say that happiness is the supreme good, Aristotle incorrectly argues that the best life is a life of study and provides an objective account of the good life which does not hold for all.
I grew up in a low-income family with a father that has rheumatoid arthritis; in other words, my life was full of hardships. Being the oldest child of the two, I had a lot of responsibilities I have to carry upon my shoulder. My father is an individual who is f...