Blogiversary

It's my blogiversary.  Sometimes It Is Lupus is a year old today.  I've been thinking for a while about how I want to celebrate - but the day has come and I don't want to celebrate. Not one bit.  What I want is for someone to come up with a cure - so I have something real to celebrate.

The first thing I saw on Facebook this morning was a photo of a beautiful young woman named Susan. She's just died from lupus. I didn't know her - but I feel her loss.

I thought of including her photo here, but I don't know her family and it would be such an intrusion on their grief to ask permission. In the Facebook photo, she's a beautiful, slim, blonde lady with a huge radiant smile. I feel for the family who has watched her fight, and lose the battle with this horrible disease.

The next thing that happened today was my fortnightly trip to the GP.  I had some extra symptoms to report on this fortnight. (Oversharing warning - don't read the rest of this paragraph if you don't want to know.) I have been getting horrible pains right across my lower back, which become much worse when I urinate.

So today, I did extra blood and urine tests. Over the next two days I go for a kidney ultrasound and a pelvic ultrasound. Both ultrasounds the same preparation, and are done at the same place, but they can't both be done on the same day. As the ultrasounds require having a very full bladder for a very long time - I'm going to spend the next couple of mornings quite uncomfortable.

What am I at risk of here? Hopefully a simple urinary tract infection - but the testing has to be done because there's a risk of lupus causing kidney damage. Lupus can cause damage to any organ of the body.

Am I celebrating my blogiversary? No, because today I've been reminded why I started this blog.  Lupus patients are dying. Our bodies are fighting a battle and the enemy is our own immune systems. We need a cure. We need people to know what we are going through, and we need them to care.