To every thing there is a season

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:1

I found this wonderful website written by a Christian woman with Lupus.  ONE WOMAN'S STORY: Living with Lupus - Women 

It’s so amazing that most of the stories I have been reading this morning say the same thing.  Such as, I went years without knowing what was wrong with me or The doctors told me it was all in my head or It was my age; after all I was no spring chicken.  You all know how it goes.  The words that doctors tell us before anyone knows what is going on with us makes us feel sad, worthless and like we are just lazy.  But we know better.  There was (and is) something definitely wrong.  Then when we finally get the answer.  The "Diagnosis" we feel like a weight has been lifted off us.  And, we all know that it's not because we want something to be wrong.  But, we have known something has been wrong for so long.  It's a relief to know that there is a name for it.  That's all we are feeling when we are told the "News." 

My first rheumatologist told me that she wasn't going to tell me my diagnosis because she felt it would scare me.  I told her how could it scare me?  I had been through so much in the last years.  I had two strokes.  And, you think that telling me I have Lupus (plus I was already diagnosed with antiphisiploid syndrome) would scare me.  I told her I was relieved.  I have since changed rheumatologists for a number of reasons.  The main reason being that she did not treat my condition as aggressively as it needed to be treated.

Back to the relief we feel when we are finally diagnosed.  Getting a diagnosis drives away all the negative comments and statements we have received for so long.  Getting a diagnosis puts a name to what we are experiencing.  No one wants to be sick, but if we feel like crap all the time.  When we have been experiencing paralyzing fatigue, excruciating pain and a myriad of other symptoms it's a comfort.  Only those who have been experiencing what we experience know how we feel.  Others just look at us like we are crazy when we tell them we finally have a name to what is wrong.  “I have Lupus (and like so many of us have said) It doesn’t have me.

Here are some excerpts from the above website.

Through this trial, I've learned having a chronic illness is not a death sentence. There are times when I feel healthy and energetic and have helped my husband paint the house, clean out the garage, and rearrange the furniture. I try to nap every afternoon, and three or four days per month I find I must have total rest. My family'ssupported me by reading and studying as much as I have to better understand my condition.

The most important lesson I've learned through my experience is that this disease isn't God's punishment for my past sins. In Jesus Christ, all my sins have been forgiven. Lupus is a side effect of living in a fallen world; my responsibility is to use my circumstances to glorify God. And I know he's given me a ministry to others who are similarly afflicted.