This weekend, I was standing around after a gradation talking with a bunch of friends (and some friends I just met). I randomly asked, "Are you guys wearing purple on May 15th for Put on Purple day?" This turned into a conversation about Lupus Awareness Month.
A girl I don't know very well asked me, "What's your connection with lupus?"
"I have lupus."
She admitted that she didn't really know anything about lupus. So my husband smiled and said, "THAT's why we need Lupus Awareness Month!"
She then asked, "What are some things that people need to know about lupus?" I began to spout out some points off the top of my head:
- Lupus can affect any part of the body and each lupus patient has a different set of symptoms. It is the great pretender because it can look like a lot of other diseases.
- It takes an average of six years for people to be diagnosed with lupus.
- They're not exactly sure how people get lupus or what causes it.
- There's only one medication specifically for lupus.
- People who don't have lupus need to be aware of it because many people with lupus do chemotherapy or take immunosuppressives. This means that it is very easy for them to catch things and get infections which can lead to a life-threatening complication. (At this point, an old friend said, "Yeah! That's why I told her I was fine when a coughed earlier!")
These are five things that I didn't know when I was diagnosed a few years ago. (You can read more about my cluelessness here.) This conversation is a perfect example of why I love Lupus Awareness Month! It creates opportunities to have conversations that would otherwise be very awkward. And it really does help bring awareness and understanding to a disease that is still such a big mystery.
Want to know more? Check the Lupus Foundation of America's Lupus Awareness Month Facts or the KNOW LUPUS Card Game (which allows you to help raise money for lupus research just by playing for free!).
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