Fixing Lupus is…I’m going to go ahead and suggest it is impossible. In fact, in my opinion, fixing any biological illness could be close to impossible, barring injuries such as wounds. The only reason I can see that you can fix wounds and similar injuries is that they can mend. When you get a hole in clothes, is you use fabric and thread to somewhat hide, or cover over, the hole. The human body mends in the same way. Bones ‘knit’ themselves back together, leaving some kind of excess ‘lumpiness’ around the fixed area to ensure it is a stable as once was. Can you take this analogy and see why I do not think Lupus, as many illnesses, has any potential at all for a fix of any kind?


What Does It Mean To Fix Something?

I guess, when you take something that is broken, or rendered incomplete from what it was, then you must fix it by ‘putting it back together’. The Lupie, or person with Lupus of any kind, is one of the many types of people existing on this earth with a body which is, in fact, not considered as broken, rather it drastically malfunctions. The colloquial saying we, in the community of people with an illness that cannot be seen, like to share is that we ‘don’t look sick’. When you drop a teacup, it breaks. You know it breaks by the way it comes apart all over the floor and the tea goes everywhere. To fix it you must put it back together. But if you get a tea cup and over time it stops keeping your tea as warm do you need to fix it? A typical person would not. They wouldn’t see a big issue. Sure they would complain about it, maybe buy a new one. No, they would not fix it.

The right tools to fix the job

What?

I am starting to wonder about the world I live in. This is not just about my health, it is a larger feeling. The generation I live in expects good coffee. They will buy it every day for ridiculous amounts because they expect ‘The Best’. Why aren’t they happy with the stuff from home? The instant stuff? Some will spend hundreds on a machine designed to deliver the same grade and quality they would buy out, for a fraction of the price. They do not care that they are themselves creating a problem in the environment that has not quick fix. They want their quick fix, and feel they have that right, regardless of the future generations who will need to fix their mistakes and demands.

So Now I’m Getting All Political?

Is that my aim here? No, I want you to just start to think about what you expect and demand of in life, and why. Who has established these expectations in you? Panadol advertisements on the television that a chef or bridesmaid ‘does not have time for a head ache.’ The message being one Panadol can fix this in a flash. We by products to stop ourselves from behaving naturally, you know, aging. More products are designed to hide our ‘signs of aging’. Further, when we go to the doctors with a cold, we want to say ‘I feel sick’ and be made well. We want a quick fix medically. Had a mad night of sex, but forgot (or ignored) your contraception? Don’t worry, a chemist has got you covered. That still didn’t work and now you have an unplanned pregnancy? A doctor can fix that too. Again, we are living with assumption that we can get what we want, when we want, with minimal effort or suffering. No wonder there is so much mental health, these unrealistic expectations drive me insane, and here I am feeling resilient enough to bear them!

What Does This Have To Do With Fixing Lupus?

There is no fix with Lupus. There you go. Demand what you want from your doctor. Push away medical treatments and embrace the natural, homeopathic ways of life and living within this community. I am sorry to be like this, but a chronic illness has gained this reputation for a reason. It goes on. Any person that knows about Lupus, or many other similar chronic or autoimmune illnesses, knows that there is, as yet, no cure. There is not even an agreed upon treatment approach. It is all higgeldy piggeldy. Lupus, all of them, every different variation currently existing in someone who walks this earth, is an ongoing illness. There is no way to fix it.

So… If You Can’t Fix It, What Do You Do?

The Person living with illness needs to be patient. It is up to them to become a detective, constantly seeking the latest research. Ensconcing themselves deeply into a community of similarly afflicted independent agents. This new community can work together to delve through the myriad opinions of possibilities. A group of people willing to try new approaches, share anecdotal information on what does and doesn’t work. You cannot fix this, there is no Panadol for Lupus. It is not simply a matter of finding the right doctor, talking to the right person and trusting the new medication. Because, even if the new medication helps, it isn’t removing the disease from your body. The tea will cool and the glue only holds this teacup together so long.

Have I Found How To Fix My Lupus?

Ironically, I would say yes. Though, not in a literal sense. I have communicated often and deeply enough to those around me that everyone knows what I am going through. We have altered our ways of socialising. We have dinner and board games parties, instead of cocktails. My weekends are spent under a rug in trackies, instead of at sporting games or on shopping trips. I don’t lift heavy things and wear my glasses everywhere. My gym class is with ‘older ladies’, not the boot camps and Crossfits. The only ‘fix’ I know of is that by not over reaching my abilities, my Lupus is managed. The only reason I feel so lucky with my doctors is that I make sure they know me. When I am away from them, I am documenting everything that happens in and to me, and when I see them I communicate all of this regardless of whether it feels necessary or not. I mean, hell, they know more about how my uni degree and assignments went than my siblings.

 

But, all in all, there is no way to fix Lupus. There are ways to manage it that feel like it is fixed, but that is not the same thing. When it comes to our health, we must remember the promises of life eternal and instantaneous healing on the television are empty and shallow.

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