Journey through Lupus

Hospital

I just recently got out of the hospital. It was a really painful stay. I had been going to the doctor and ER for swelling of my hand, arm and shoulder. My blood pressure was extremely high from my pain. The pain had worsen and I couldn't hardly breathe. I didn't tell my sons how bad I was feeling but it had gotten to the point I couldn't stop crying. My friend Ree took me to Saint Joseph hospital. The triage nurse and ER doctor told me it will be a miracle if I get out the hospital alive. They told me that this is a very bad lupus flare up but they could tell I had blood clots. I was admitted 5 minutes after they saw me. My blood pressure was 350/210 and they were shocked I hadn't had a stroke. The nurse prayed over me. They looked like they saw death when looking at me. I was stuck 20 times until they could get a iv in me. I've been in the hospital plenty of times but never like how I was feeling. I use to pain and I usually smile through it but I couldn't control the tears. I knew I was bad off because a medical person kept check on me every two seconds. I ended up on oxygen because my breathing was very shallow. The one thing they treat lupus with is steroids. I had to take excessive amounts then I ended up with more health issues. I ended up on heart patches and taking insulin for diabetic. I've never been a diabetic until now. Between the pain and all the issues I started to give up. I was tired and tired of being sick daily. My youngest saw the depression setting in. He got on my phone and reached out to my social media friends. He was trying to save his mom. My friends responded. They prayed for me, came to see me, text me and called. I could see it was affecting my oldest son but he was daily trying to put on his brave face. My nurse prayed a beautiful prayer for me before I went into surgery. I had three blood clots removed. One was a half inch from my heart. That was the reason I couldn't hardly breathe. The other two wasn't far behind it. I had surgery at 3 am because my blood pressure had been too high all day. The steroids makes your blood pressure stay high. I wish they would find a cure for lupus. It might not help me but at least it will help someone. People with lupus never die of the disease but the complications from the medication. I was in surgery until 6:15 am. That was a long time. They had to be careful removing the one close to heart. I am very grateful toGod, my doctors and nursing staff and my social media friends. While being in the hospital, I had been stuck over 200 times and my veins collapsed. I had been stuck all over my body. One nurse from the iv team stuck me in my swollen hand. The doctor went off. The iv filtrated and my hand became bigger. This is the first time I ever gave up hope and I'm glad I started fighting again. With this disease you have to have a great support system. You have to keep fighting and you have to believe in a higher power. You can't give up. I've learned that you can't make too many plans ahead of time because fatigue will set in and you just can't move. I'm a cake designer and I do catering. My doctor told me I might not be able to return to my job. I'm very passionate about my work. I'm trying to look on the bright side. I am still dealing with pain on a daily basis. Today I couldn't get out of the bed. Fatigue set in and I wasn't feeling too good. To make myself feel half way human I stayed on Facebook and Instagram. I was in the hospital almost 2 weeks. I know my God will work it out. I'm a firm believer in prayer.