Tuesday, May 10, 2011

World Lupus Day


Ahem....indulge me this once while I step onto my soapbox.  

Today is World Lupus Day.  It's a day to raise awareness of Lupus - a disease that affects millions of people worldwide.  It is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system turns on the body and begins attacking the healthy cells of the body.  It's an unpredictable disease, which can be mild in some people, but life-threatening in others if major organs are affected.  

As some of you may know, I was diagnosed with lupus when I was 16 years old.  For the first 8 years after my diagnosis, I was doing really well, but as I finished college and started working, my lupus began to flare and took a turn for the worst.  I chose to stop working, and instead focused on taking care of myself.  That's how I ended up starting jslik designs (even though I'm sort of on hiatus right now).  Having lupus has forced me to make some difficult decisions and led me down a different road than I had envisioned for myself.  If you had asked the freshly graduated me what I would be doing 7 years down the line, I'd probably tell you something about having a career, moving up the ladder, making a great salary, getting married, and starting a family.  Instead, I've had to switch jobs a few times, finally giving up the idea of a "real" career.  At least I got the married part down though!  However, through these trials, I feel that God has built my character and strengthened my faith in Him.  I still have a positive outlook on life and know that God is in control.

Now, with the support of my wonderful family and my awesome husband (and a few medications), I'm leading a relatively normal life.  Sure, I may not be working, I may not have a career, and I may not have children, but I'm still enjoying life.  Since moving to Singapore, I've gotten involved with the Lupus Association of Singapore.  I've really enjoyed volunteering my time and meeting many other people who share this disease.  It's encouraging to see older women, who have lived longer and experienced more than I have, still happy and full of life.  The local Singaporean newspaper, The Straits Times, did an interview to promote World Lupus Day and our efforts at the Lupus Association to raise awareness and recruit new members and volunteers.  You can check it out here.  (For some reason, Straits Times didn't bother to post their article online but no worries, the Jakarta Globe did.)  It's my 3 lines of fame!  "Chemical engineer husband" even got an honorable mention...haha.  It was weird reading my own quotes....not sure if I actually said them like that or if they were translated into Singlish...  But the main point I was making was that even though I have lupus, I'm still living a full life!

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