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Lupus has been called everything from the silent disease to the "but you don't look sick" disease. It is actually an autoimmune disease and can range from mild to severe and even life threatening. The mild form, called discoid lupus, attacks the skin and can cause rashes. Systemic lupus can attack the internal organs and is much more dangerous. I have been dealing with this disease for over 10 years now.

When I was first diagnosed I was scared and felt very alone. I had no knowledge of the condition and spent hours at the library gathering facts. For the first couple of years I read everything I could get my hands on about lupus, what it was and how it would effect me. But that did not prepare me for what actually was to come.
The first organ it attacked was my thyroid. After spending a week in the hospital, with what we all thought was a heart attack, they set me up for a radioactive iodine treatment that destroyed the thyroid and left me to take medication for the rest of my life.
High doses of prednizone left me tired, weak, and about 60 pounds more than I normally weighed. They also cause steroid cataracts, and at a young age I was having to have cataract surgery. Then came the liver problems, hence causing the doctors to stop any and all pain medications.
And now, just over a year ago the lupus reared its ugly head one more time and attacked my lungs. My days are spent in my house, hardly ever going out, my life completely changed from what it used to be. Without the support that I have, there would be a fight to face tomorrow. But I have a wonderful family and an online support group, both a godsend to me. I have learned to live one day at a time. And though my life may never be what it once was, living with an autoimmune disease gives me an insight to life that I may not have had if this had not invaded my existance.

Learn more about this author, Karon Wilbanks.
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