On Lupus

I sit here, thinking of of my love, wondering if Benlysta will help her. For those of you saying, "What is he talking about?" let me nut-shell it for you. My love, Eiska, has Lupus SLE, the most fatal composit of Lupus. It attacks, joints, muscles, internal organs, the skin, the mind and inducing debilitating pain everywhere in the body. It is an auto-immune disease, little understood by doctors and researchers alike. It acts much like AIDS but, without the contagation factor. Lupus is an inheirted genetic disease. You can't "catch" it from a sufferer. Much like AIDS, Lupus never kills the sufferer, the lack of the ability to fight off infections, both bacterial and viral is the culprit in death. Pneumonia, kidney failure, heart attack, and on and on. Last year, a clinical study with a new drug was completed. (http://http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/health/17drug.html?_r=1 ) Recently, the FDA approved it for use in the United States. The cost of the treatments is huge, in excess of $10,000 a year. Far outside of what I can do. I've come to terms with the knowledge that E will be taken from us but, it is a very painful realization, one that I keep locked in a small room inside my brain. Also, locked inside that very same room is my RAGE at Lupus. And my painful, angry musings on why I NEVER see ANY ribbons, marathons, sports stars, actors or actresses, celebreties talking about this insiduous, fatal disease. I'm in AA, Lupus has taught me the true meaning of POWERLESSNESS (is that a real word? It is for me.) At times, in this space, I'll let my rage run free, expressing my feelings on many subjects. Please, pray for my E......