Greetings
I was diagnosed with SLE in 2001 and dealt with it throughout the years. A turning point came in 2006 when I had to resign from a job I loved because I was facing kidney failure. Close to a year after that I started hemodialysis. It's been rough, my husband and I weren't getting along very well and my son at the time was only about
8 years old.
The dialysis treatments helped and I really don't have many complaints about
that. Mostly with the constant lupus flare-ups that hindered me from doing my regular activities.
Around March 2010 my doctor discovered that I needed to have one of my heart valves replaced and that was another ordeal that had me hospitalized a little over a month.
So after surviving, yet making another recovery I didn't think anything else could go wrong with my illness....WRONG, dead wrong. In November 2011, the day before Thanksgiving I had to have a below the knee amputation of my left leg due to poor circulation. It started with a dark spot on the corner of my big toe and continued to spread. I even tried by the recommendation of my doctor to have hyperbaric treatments daily to help save my leg, but the pain was so awful I couldn't stand it no longer than about
a month. One morning I had an appoint. with my vascular surgeon and told her that I wanted to go ahead with the amputation.
In June of 2012 I had a repeat performance with my right leg.
Thankfully I am successful with prosthetics (and the money I'm saving because I no longer get pedicures, lol). I'm driving and getting around pretty good.
I ended up getting a divorce but it was mutual. My son will be 16 in a few months and he's been a tremendous help. My mom and close friends help us but I've been pretty independent. I still get depressed from time to time but it's been less as time goes on.
I know this post has turned into a novel but hey, lupus isn't quite the short story type. Thanks so much for taking the time to read my story and I look forward to communicating with you.
