Providing Answers, Support and Hope in Georgia

Thirty-One Faces of Hope: Meet Members of Our Lupus Parent Project

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. 

Jennifer and Lucy and Their Daughters, Lizzie and Olivia

Our Lupus Parent Project serves to connect families in the lupus community to share common experiences and support each other. Meet two amazing women, Jennifer Mearkle and Lucy Reynolds, mothers of daughters with lupus, Lizzie Mearkle and Olivia Lach. Lizzie and Olivia have become fast friends and as you will read in the account below, Jennifer and Lucy have bonded as they support each other in "all things lupus!"

Recently, Jennifer found herself in need of support. Please read her story:

"These are the moments the doctors, the books, and the research don’t prepare you for. I’ve checked out all the books, even bought a couple of the thorough ones. I’ve talked to the rheumatologist and I’m a regular googler of all things lupus, and yet, none of that has prepared me for this moment. Truth be known, it didn’t prepare me for dealing with the attitude of a twelve-year-old girl who’s been on steroids for 3 months either, but that’s an entirely different story.
 
I used to be one of those laid-back moms. Lizzie is the youngest of three and my other two are grown, so I thought I had this parenting thing figured out. But it’s the first time she’s gone with someone we aren’t very close to since she was diagnosed with lupus two months ago. I wasn’t prepared for the mini panic attack that was coming over me so I make the moment super awkward and just blurt out the only thing I can think of,” You know she has lupus, right?” Seriously, that’s the best I can come up with? Three and a half months of dealing with this illness, all the difficulty, all the tears, the change in diet, the medications, and the worry. That’s the best I can do to sum it all up, to ask for… What am I even asking for? What do I expect this fellow mother to do with that? If I don’t know, she surely won’t.
 
Now I’m not only having a mini panic attack, I’m embarrassed, embarrassed at my own inability to relay my daughter’s needs. I give myself some grace and try to remember that it’s only been two months since we have known about lupus and that we are still settling in to our “new normal”. Moments like this are why the Lupus Foundation of America is important. Second only to the need for a cure, our family needs support and thankfully, both causes are a priority for the Lupus Foundation. And it’s because of the Lupus Foundation’s Parent Project that I call Lucy. 

Who is Lucy? Lucy is Olivia’s mom. She’s been parenting twelve-year-old Olivia through lupus for three years now. I know that when I call Lucy and relive my painfully awkward moment she’ll not only understand, but she’ll have some good advice as well. She does all of this and more. She understands, she reassures, she advises, and she supports. She walks this journey with me through tears, laughter, and hope, then she helps me prepare for the next time. What other mother would understand my worry over her need to reapply her sunscreen regularly even on a cloudy day, to wash her hands often and stay away from anyone who is or has recently been sick? Who else but another mother of a child with lupus would understand my fear of her suddenly becoming tired or not feeling well when I’m not around, or the importance of her eating a good diet? 

Thank you to the Lupus Foundation, Georgia chapter for leading me to Lucy and other parents who are traveling the same lupus journey with their child that I am. If you need a tax deduction, donate. If you know someone with lupus, give them a hug, it’s a difficult journey. If you have lupus, know you’re not alone. If you’re a parent with a child diagnosed with lupus who needs support, reach out to the Lupus Foundation’s Parent Project. You won’t regret it. We’ll laugh with you, we’ll cry with you, we’ll support, sympathize, share and walk with you on the journey."

- Jennifer Mearkle

For more information about the Lupus Parent Project, please contact Teri Emond at temond@lfaga.org.