It’s 5:30am. The pain along the
right side of my body – neck,
shoulder, upper arm, thigh, and
knee - is bad enough to jolt me out
of a sound sleep. This is the third
time I’ve been awakened since
midnight. The first and second
times I woke up, I thought it was
just to use the bathroom. After experiencing
excruciating pain this
time, I realize it woke me up the
other two times as well. I have
mild aches most of the time, but
it’s been a while since I’ve had
this kind of pain.
What’s going on? Is it
the result of veering
away from my regular
exercise plan? Is it
from the season’s
change from summer
to fall?
Is stress
from all
my activities
over
the past
few
months causing
pain? In
June, I served as captain
of my lupus walk team,
K’s Hope for a Cure, and enjoyed
a family cruise to Alaska. In July,
my husband, Cecil, and I studied
genealogy at the Midwest African
American Genealogical Institute in
Indiana and attended my family
reunion in North Carolina. In August,
we attended Cecil’s family
reunion in Mississippi. And now,
I’m working on plans for promoting
my second book. Bottom line,
am I going into a lupus flare like
the one in 2006?
I consider myself to be a walking
miracle, a living testimony to
God’s amazing grace, love, and
care. For years, probably my whole
life, I have suffered from various
symptoms that could have been
related to lupus. My symptoms included
cold hands and feet and
sensitivity to cold (since I can remember);
painful, sore, and swollen
joints and muscles (since the
1960s); low blood count (1960s);
extreme redness of eyes (since
1975); thyroid condition (since
1988); itchy and discolored blotches
on my skin (1990s); blistering
after short exposure to sun (1990s);
and chest pain with each deep
breath (1990s).
By Kayrene (Kay) Mimms
42—iPain Living Magazine