State & Lake

That was my question when I first heard the word fibromyalgia.  It’s a horrible little something that makes my life miserable and often, when this horrible little something arrives, I find myself pondering how I so hate my life.  Thank God the thought is fleeting because all of my life I have had to deal [...]

Wow, my last post was supposed to be this post but somehow I ended up on another topic altogether.  Well, moving on.
HealthNews Blog has a great article on stress entitled “Stress: How It Affects Us” by Joel Nathan.  It’s a great article because Nathan talks about how stress can adversely affect your health and I [...]

Toxic Environment[/caption]
That little headline got my attention a while back and now it and the attached image are following me.  No, I’m not being paranoid.
Every now and then I do a search for all things Lupus and lately an article on toxins in our environment has been popping up on a number of health sites.  [...]

Positive Makeup : Nicole Paxson[/caption]
The fall issue of Lupus Now is out and it covers some very important issues:
– The many ways people with lupus complete their families by Lisa Tillman
– Winter Relief — Tips for Living A Full And Rewarding Life
– Living With Lupus — Sorting The Facts From Fiction
– The 411 on 911 [...]

I read the article “Survival instincts propel ‘difficult patient’ to insist on quality care” at esciencenews and had an “aha” moment.  The article brought back painful memories of an inept doctor and several more that seemed more interested in treating my symptoms instead of trying to find out what the underlying problem was.  I had to [...]

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 [...]

Sarcoidosis, like many autoimmune illnesses, is hard to diagnose.  Alice Minyard is very aware of how this happens.  Recently diagnosed, Minyard believes she has been battling sarcoidosis for five years.
“I woke up one morning and thought I had the flu,” she said.
Two miserable weeks passed before Minyard got any relief — and the relief was [...]

A lot has come out since Bernie Mac’s death this past weekend; specifically, I learned he had been in the hospital three weeks, not two and I learned he had been put into an induced coma with hopes this would cause him to heal better and perhaps faster.  eFluxMedia is reporting in an article Bernie [...]

I’ll be honest, I do not trust this drug and I especially have difficulty dealing with the fact that many of our legislators, without reading any of the FDA’s literature, will vote to mandate this drug be given to young adults and teenagers.
Yes, I said mandated.  Three U.S. states have passed laws mandating Gardasil, an [...]

How nice is that?  I really can’t tell you how warm and fuzzy that has made me feel.  I suspected pleurisy but when I last experienced it some ten plus years ago, I did not remember it being sooooo painful.  This also comes with an interesting story.
I had this older doctor who must have known [...]

I don’t know what I had but it was a nasty little bug.  I believe I picked up this bug three weeks ago when I decided to purchase fruits and veggies from a store other than Whole Foods.  Within 24-hours after eating what I believe was a bad cantaloupe — don’t know why — I [...]

I just heard the news on CNN and shortly thereafter the calls, text messages and emails flowed in.  While I have been dealing with my own hellish week, Bernard Jeffrey “Bernie Mac” McCullough was engaged in a fight for his life.
Growing up in Chicago, it was not uncommon to run across some of Chicago’s finest [...]

My lupus sorors (and frat brothers) often talk about employment rights, disability insurance, etc.  Today I ran across the following article, “Lupus And Employment Rights: Knowing Your Options” at EmaxHeath.
Since those of us living with lupus struggle to maintain full-time employment, our health problems might require we take time off from work for doctor’s appointments [...]

I found this image at SciencePunk.com and I loved the changed caption about tearing out your own kidney.  Today I seriously wanted to do just that.
Last week I talked about my lab test showing “mild inflammation”.  Today that mild inflammation turned into kidney on fire, blood pressure on the rise and Angela was not a [...]

After hearing many wild rumors over the weekend about comedian Bernie Mac being in critical condition, even near death, it’s comforting to know Mac is still alive, recovering, and undergoing treatment. The actor-comedian’s rep said “Bernie Mac is still alive and being treated at a Chicago hospital for pneumonia and is expected to make a [...]

Amy Harned, 48, takes a lot of vitamins and maintains a healthy diet to manage her lupus.  Photo:  CNN

When I read the first paragraph of a CNN article featuring Amy Harned, 48, I immediately recognized the drill.  “Before Amy Harned goes outside to work in her garden, she coats her face and neck with sunscreen, [...]

I’m doing research on autoimmune diseases and found this article, Our Bodies, Ourselves: First-World Women Face Unique Environmental Threats. Admittedly, much of my research is showing more than family history must be considered when looking at individuals with autoimmune diseases. We must also look at the environment. Many, particularly women, are [...]

Hot Spot: Lyme Disease in Duxbury- The date was June 23, 2006. Doctors couldn’t give the Standish Shore resident a clear diagnosis –– she was told she might have everything from Lupus to Fibromyalgia to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. When Lyme disease was suggested, Coombs’ primary care doctor was skeptical because she didn’t have the telltale [...]

Photo Right:  Ellie Smith with an orphaned bobcat that was rehabilitated and later released into the wild.
Doing what I normally do, I stumbled upon an article about a woman I now admire.  Though I don’t know her and unfortunately, will never meet her, I was humbled reading her story.
For 25 years, Ellie Smith ran [...]

I love this story particularly because it involves exercise.
Robin Deveraux created a dance program 4 years ago, when her daughter was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. To help her daughter avoid complications like high cholesterol and high blood pressure, her doctor recommended increased activity.
For Robin, the question was how do you “get a kid to do [...]

This is an interesting article and one I have been thinking about myself.  I watched a video on YouTube of two identical twin sisters and noted one said she went through a devastating loss.  During that period she became very ill and was eventually diagnosed with lupus.  Her sister was diagnosed many years earlier but [...]

Okay folks, this is a rant and don’t look for me to appear on YouTube with a sheet behind me smearing my mascara to do it but note, the sentiment is the same:  LEAVE MICHAEL ALONE!!!  HE IS A HUMAN BEING!!
I am getting sick of the sickos who are all too willing to call out [...]

Photo Left: Dr. Jan McCaffrey, an avid gardener, enjoys some of the more fragrant roses in her West Vancouver garden. The longtime doctor, who has recently been diagnosed with lupus, has partnered with the B.C. Lupus Society as an advisor.
NEWS photo Mike Wakefield
When I was first diagnosed with lupus three years ago, I have to [...]

She’s “one tough broad” and proves it every night while on stage playing Sofia in The Color Purple. “Hell No!” is a show stealer as admitted to by Oprah Winfrey. It is also a song of triumph, a woman standing up and saying “Hell No!” to abuse.
The story about love arrives in the [...]

No secret is as carefully guarded as a celebrity suffering with a chronic illness, but the A-list producer wants to end this conspiracy.
Lauren Shuler Donner has lupus and she wants you to know.  Not only does she have lupus, she is also one of Hollywood’s A-list producers.  Over the last two decades, she has produced [...]

In the three years since my diagnosis, I have never seen or read a story as in-depth and as informative as the article I stumbled upon today in the Vancouver Sun. The article entitled Lupus fight long and hard starts with the words “Lupus is killing Susan.”
The author, Daphne Bramham, tells the story of [...]

Every day I search for articles on lupus. I look for what’s new, what’s hot and what’s not. I am equally encouraged when those living with lupus telling their stories of “how they got over.” The following is a story about a family doing their part to raise awareness about lupus and [...]

The St. Petersburg Times has an article on a woman living with lupus who has created a niche market for herself by starting a hair salon catering to women of color in a county where black women make up 1 percent of the population, finding enough clientele to fill Silvera’s appointment book has been tough.
“This [...]

Stirring and serving her own brand of homemade lemonade is Yvette George who is making a come back to television with her own show for single moms.
In 2001, Yvette George was serving up delicious repartee with her show “With Style and Grace.” She is a popular television and radio personality, media consultant, etiquette expert, [...]