And the word is...

Today I had my rheumatology appointment. After reviewing my labs and my current symptoms/health problems the doctor is pretty certain that I have Lupus (specifically Systemic Lupus Erythematosus- SLE) and that it is currently affecting several organ systems; my brain, chest, intestines, and kidneys. I had 27 labs drawn today, yes 27! She rushed those labs and I will follow up with her next week to find out for sure and what the treatment plan will be. We definitely need to be aggressive and it needs to be treated seriously. She said that they may admit me to the hospital next week and that if any of my symptoms increase in severity before then that I need to go and be admitted to the hospital and start treatment. Scary! This goes for the future too. Any time I have any sort of problem I need to be seen immediately.

Most likely I will start on high dose steroids, aspirin, or immunosuppressants. I'm going to be very interested to find out more information and to see how this is going to effect my daily life. I read that in the '50's people with Lupus were given a 4 year life expectancy, but now with 20 years of the disease the life expectancy is now 78%. As far as fertility, Lupus causes recurrent miscarriages due to blood clots. It's not something that I like to talk about often, but I've had 4 miscarriages that I'm aware of. The rheumatologist states that it's very possible that as far as conceiving Lupus may be my only hurdle (of course as long as the endo is under control) and that with treatment I should be able to conceive naturally and carry a pregnancy to term. That seems too good to be true! My pregnancy would be considered high risk and it would be a joint effort between a high-risk ob/gyn, rheumatology, hematology, and pulmonology. Over 50% of Lupus patients deliver their babies pre-term.

This is all just some of the information that comes with Lupus and there is so much more to learn and know, but it's all a bit overwhelming to consume at once. So, where does this blog go? My Journey to Conceive with Endometriosis and Lupus? That's a mouthful. When I told my family about everything they were very scared and I just kept saying "it's going to be okay". My husband kept asking how I feel and I kept saying "I'm okay. I'm fine. It's no big deal" or something to that effect. But just between you and I, I'm scared! What is this going to mean for me? I always assumed that feeling crappy and my CONSTANT parade of doctors appointments would come to an end. Once it's under control how often will I have flare ups? How sick can I get? Am I going to die? I just need to remember to rein in my emotions because freaking out isn't going to help the situation at all.

**For those that may not be aware, Lupus is an autoimmune disorder where your body can't tell what's good and what's bad and therefore attacks itself**