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Providing Answers, Support and Hope in Georgia

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Thirty-One Faces of Hope: Keith Fulton

The lupus community includes people living with lupus, friends, family, and supporters across Georgia. For Lupus Awareness Month, we would like to highlight some of our lupus heroes and champions.


Meet Keith Fulton

My name is Keith Fulton. My wife Emmanuelle was diagnosed with lupus in 2005, nearly 20 years ago. She had been tired, and sick, and painful, with seemingly random symptoms for so long, finally getting a diagnosis was a relief in some ways. She wasn’t imagining things, wasn’t lazy, wasn’t a hypochondriac. But now having a label to tag all her struggles with didn’t really help either—she was sick. Really sick.

As her husband, it is often hard to watch her go through treatments and procedures while feeling so helpless that I can’t help her more. Most of the time, all I can do is be with her—hold her hand and bring her drinks, get her meds ready, arrange her doctor visits, take her to her appointments and let her talk to me about her fears, struggles and heartaches for as long as she wants, as often as she wants.

It’s also important for me to roll with the punches, just like she has to do. Be ready to go places and do projects on her good days. Be ready to stay home and cancel plans on her bad days. Sometimes both in the same day. But this is how lupus patients live. And this is how their families live. .

Note from the LFA, Georgia Chapter: Keith Fulton's journey towards lupus awareness led him to the Georgia Chapter. After careful consideration, Keith accepted a position on our Board of Directors. We are grateful for his volunteer leadership as we grow our foundation.


Thank You to Our Generous Sponsor

 

Choosing to prioritize your kidney health might be uncomfortable, but the reality is that up to 30% of people who live with lupus nephritis may experience kidney failure, which can lead to dialysis or even a kidney transplant. Luckily, there are steps you can take now that may help, such as scheduling routine tests and asking your doctor about treatment options. Talk to your doctor to learn more about routine testing and treatment.

Learn more about their GET UNCOMFORTABLE campaign.