Tanisha W. - Diagnosed Age 36
To make a long story short, in 2011 I gave birth to my seven year old son. One month later I started to lose weight and developed severe rashes all over my upper back and neck. I got so sick that it landed me in the hospital on New Years Eve. When I got out the hospital I started to lose my vision in my right eye and then the left. I also started to develop butterfly rashes on my face. In February I started to have spasms to the point where I was getting weak in the legs. As I was seeing doctors my spasms were getting worse and so was my vision. When March came along I walked into the E.R but by the time I saw the doctor I could no longer walk.
On Friday, March 14 I was diagnosed with Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) and on Monday, March 17 I was diagnosed with lupus SLE. I always thought my NMO would be the problem for me the most, but the only thing is that it’s made me legally blind. I cry a lot because I suffer with depression now because of lupus. Ever since I was diagnosed with lupus I am always in a flare every year. In 2015 I started to have skin pigmentation, in 2016 hair loss, in 2017 lost some nerve damage in both ears causing me to lose some hearing, and in 2018 really severe spasms. I lost muscle strength and couldn’t walk for a week. I had to go to rehab to teach my muscles all over again how to walk.
Every year there is a lupus flare. I do all the precautions, I changed my eating habits, and I do not leave my house without putting on sunscreen lotion. In the beginning when I started to develop the rashes I wish the doctor had picked up on it then and maybe we could have caught on to it sooner. I did not do my part either. I did not go to the hospital right away like I should’ve. Now here I am 6 yrs later, still having flares every year and fighting for a cause and always will.
Developing 2 autoimmune diseases after giving birth to my son, was the last thing I ever expected. I also know one thing I never want him to think is that it was because of him being born that caused it all.