cluding the skin, joints, blood,
blood vessels, heart, lungs, kidneys,
central nervous system, and
brain. NIH goes on to say,
“Lupus happens when the immune
system, which normally helps protect
the body from infection and
disease, attacks its own tissues.
This attack causes inflammation
and, in some cases, permanent tissue
damage.”
My primary care physician referred
me to a rheumatologist who
specialized in the care of lupus
patients. However, before my
scheduled appointment, my symptoms
of extreme pain in my joints
and muscles to the point where I
could barely walk, nausea, and
productive coughing worsened.
One weekend, things became so
bad that I decided to seek help in a
hospital emergency room (ER)
where attendants discovered problems
44—iPain Living Magazine
with my lungs and heart. I
was given a choice of waiting until
the next day for my pre scheduled
appointment or being admitted
into the hospital. I chose to be
admitted to the hospital because
whatever they administered in the
emergency room stopped the pain,
and I felt better than I had any
time over the past several months.
Very early the next day, I experienced
acute respiratory distress,
coughing up blood, loss of consciousness,
hypotension, and presumed
seizure. The medical staff
ordered a respiratory code
(breathing and possible airway
blockage emergency), blood type
and cross for transfusion, intubation
(insertion of a tube in the airway
to assist in breathing), and
sedation. I remained in Intensive
Care Unit (ICU), intermittently
intubated and sedated, for 65 days.
I had a breathing machine, a peripherally
inserted central catheter
or PICC line (a thin, soft, long
tube that is inserted into a vein and
used for long-term intravenous
antibiotics, medications, and for
blood draws), a feeding tube, and
a urinary catheter. I was also given
massive doses of prednisone. Expectations
for me to live were dim.
In April, I was finally able to
breath without the ventilator and
eat without the feeding tube.
Thanks to God, my husband,
daughters, family, friends, physicians,
and other medical personnel,
I survived a near-death situation.
My next battles involved stabilizing
the lupus, learning to walk and
talk again, and maintaining treatment
for my high blood pressure,
thyroid condition, and allergies.
My treatment plan for stabilizing
the lupus included six rounds of
Cytoxan (chemotherapy), reduced
doses of prednisone, and later on
hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil). I
learned to walk and talk again during
three weeks of intensive occupational,
physical, and speech
therapy as an in-patient. There
were also months of in-home and
out patient physical and speech
therapy. First, I was wheelchair
bound; then, I could use the walk-
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