Living with Lupus: Physical Aspects

What people say vs what you hear/they mean:

              

           With lupus and fibromyalgia, the disorders and the medications to treat them cause skin imperfections, weight gain, and joint swelling.  I personally spend 2 hours weightlifting with another hour of card cardio 5-6 days a week, eat an anti-inflammatory diet, and have my entire day planned and organized such that my stress level is minimized to maximize my health.  Do people see that time and energy poured into maintaining a healthy weight and keeping my immune system from breaking down my body any further? Of course not, they only see me as a not-skinny, lazy person who needs to work harder.

               My diet is designed to minimize the amount of inflammation in my joints from the fibromyalgia, lupus, and arthritis that ravages my bones.  I have to avoid dairy, eggs, all meat, potatoes, peppers, eggplant, and any hydrogenated fats.  Essentially, I’m being forced into veganism.  When people find out about that, they don’t see a person who has to eat healthy, tasteless, boring CRAP, they see a hippy who considers themselves to be better than everyone else.  I don’t think that, my diet makes me miserable.  I hate being a burden on the people around me, I miss bacon, I miss cheese, and I really miss being able to just sit down and eat a nice baked chicken breast for supper when I feel like it.

               I weight-lift almost every day, getting to the gym at 7 and leaving at 10am.  Due to a shoulder surgery that removed about 2/3 of my right shoulder, I have many handicaps.  Despite this, I can bench-press 155 lbs, military press 105 lbs, squat 205 lbs, and deadlift 225 lbs.  I run when my arthritis allows, and run on the elliptical for at least an hour before weightlifting.  Does it help? Yes!  My medications and medical problems cause most people to gain 40lbs, which I have avoided.  I maintain a healthy figure, but I pour enough heart and will into my exercise that I should look like a bodybuilder.  Is that fair? No.  Do people see that? No, they don’t know the constant work I put into looking as healthy as I do.

               What’s the lesson to learn here?  If you don’t know someone, don’t judge their appearance.  There are medical conditions that can make someone look less “perfect” despite any effort made in contradiction.  Be conscientious, be considerate, be caring.