Living With Lupus: Julian Furtado

Posted by A.D. Odom on Aug 24, 2008 • 57 views • (0)

It is often difficult to explain the on again off again symptoms of lupus and the flares. There are days we look well and can push ourselves to the extreme. Then there are the days we can barely rise from bed, put on clothes or muster the energy to make a pot of coffee.

It is surviving those bad days, pushing ourselves beyond our energy levels, that require a lot of focus, determination and a good deal of intestinal fortitude. For some, failure is not an option and excuses, well those too are not an option.

Julian Furtado had to work past fatigue, rashes and muscle pain when she competed in the 1996 Olympics. Though she did not know it at the time, Furtado had lupus and in spite of her best efforts and the fact she was favored to win the race, she ended up in tenth place. She fought through her difficulties that day and still topped 17 other Olympic-caliber riders

Today, Furtado focuses her time and energies on caring for her 4-month-old son, Wyatt. Furtado was a member of the inaugural women’s cross country mountain bike racing team during the Summer Games in Atlanta.

“Mentally it was about the hardest thing I had to go through. I still hoped for a miracle, that I would line up and feel like I had before, but ….”

After Atlanta, Furtado tried again entering one more race before retiring at 30 in 1997.

Furtado’s lupus-related struggles began in late 1995 and hit hard in 1996. She was eventually diagnosed in 1997. Prior to her diagnosis, there were days she could race “as ruthlessly as usual.” Others days she found herself barely able to “muster the energy to get out of bed.” She also dealt with rashes and joint pain and suffered a seizure.

“It was just a bad year, horrible,” she said. “The bummer was, it was an Olympic year.”

Her friends urged Furtado to see a doctor. Furtado wouldn’t.

“I really can’t stand athletes that have excuses,” she said. “I still thought I could race.”

When the Olympics race began, she realized she couldn’t. As soon as she started down the course, she wouldn’t be wearing a medal that day.

Today, Furtado’s lupus-related symptoms has all but disappeared. The pain it brought has mostly disappeared, too — even that of her disappointing performance at the Olympics.