Last week at the Renal Dialysis Unit (RDU), I had the chance to talk to an SLE patient. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is not an infectiousAt first glance, she didn’t look like she has a kidney problem, except for her apparent "chubby cheeks." She was jovial, very entertaining until I talked to her.
disease but a chronic autoimmune
disease. Patients with Lupus produce abnormal
antibodies in their blood that attack tissues or organs within
their own body instead of foreign infectious agents.
She’s been diagnosed with SLE years ago and started hemodialysis just a year ago because her kidneys are already dysfunctional due to SLE. Further, she’s only allowed to take a maximum of 1000 ml (1L) of fluid a day (more than that will cause edema). Her urine output is only a drop a day whereas the normal urine output is about 30 ml per hour. So she has to undergo hemodialysis (takes 4 hours per session) every other day to clean her blood. Her situation is truly dejecting.
She's seen a lot of doctors and most of them gave her a lot of restrictions (food intake, for example) while others advised her to simply "enjoy life." And she chose the latter. It's like nothing can stop her, not even SLE.
I don’t pity her instead I admire her for the courage to live and to enjoy the remaining days of her life with her loved ones. She may not be able to eat some of the food that I am eating but at least she’s trying to live a healthy lifestyle.
Whatever the purpose of her having SLE, only God knows.
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteI've had lupus for over 6 years and the lupus afffects my body diffrent then hers. Mine affects my nervous system. I have good days and bad days. I've had one stroke from the lupus which affects my speech and eye sight on one side. I was informed by doctor that the "plague" as I call it is active again. Its caused a large amount of nerve and muscle damage. Lupus has a mind of its own;it affects everyone differently.
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