KAREN

[Guest guest]

MY NAME IS DWAYNE AND I AM NEW TO THIS GROUP, I WISH YOU WELL WITH YOUR COLLEGE ENDEAVOR, I DON'T KNOW HOW AFFECTED YOU ARE BY THE LUPUS, BUT SOME PEOPLE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GO TO COLLEGE WITH THEIR SYMPTOMS. I WENT FOR FOUR YEARS, BEFORE I DEVELOPED CHRONIC PAIN, FATIGUE, DIARRHEA AND SEVERE BIZARRE MOOD SWINGS, IT WAS A NIGHTMARE, BUT BEFORE THAT I ENJOYED THE CHALLENGE AND THE POSITIVE STRESS OF PUSHING MYSELF.

WHATEVER THE OUTCOME, DON'T GO INTO DENIAL AND PUSH YOURSELF TO FAR LIKE I DID, BUT MY SITUATION WAS VERY different from MOST, I DEVELOPED THESE DEBILITATING CONDITIONS AFTER TAKING THE HEPATITIS B VACCINATION SERIES, I BECAME SICKER WITH EACH ONE AND KEEP TELLING MY SELF IT WAS JUST MY NERVES. THE DOCTORS TOLD ME THE SAME THING AND THAT WAS IN 1998, I QUIT DURING MY FINAL INTERNSHIP TO BECOME AN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST AND HAVE BEEN SICK AND DISABLED EVER SINCE, ITS NOT WHAT I WANTED AND IT HAS TAKEN A LONG TIME TO ADJUST, BUT YOU KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS AND ILLNESS SO MAYBE YOU CAN STAY AFLOAT AND COPE WITH MEDICAL HELP. THANKS FOR LISTENING TO ME, GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS YOUR EFFORTS, DWAYNE