I'm only human!

October 30, 2010

This past week has brought a myriad of feelings and emotions from the very deep core of my soul. I granted two wishes with Make-A-Wish, Tom had a colonoscopy, my mother and stepmother have been quite ill, I found a lump along Lulu’s spine, I felt my lupus flaring, the Philadelphia Phillies broke my heart, my job has been stressful, my health insurance benefits are changing dramatically on January 1st, and I yearn for people and places that aren’t here.  I know it sounds like I’m complaining, but I honestly don’t mean it that way.  I’m just a human being going through the normal thoughts and feelings of a busy week as one tends to have.

Granting the two wishes with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of NJ this week were the absolute highlights!  What sheer joy it was to meet with Rebecca and Taylor.  Walt Disney World and Hawaii, respectively, will never be the same once they step foot there.  I can wholeheartedly say that I have never EVER come in contact with another organization that brings such HAPPINESS into the hearts of everyone it touches.  HONESTLY, it’s absolutely unbelievable! MAW does so much for SO many people, I simply can’t explain in words how incredibly amazing this foundation truly is.  Thank you to ALL who support it!

This week, however, I was reminded about my own life-threatening illness.  Lupus.  I know I have it, I know it plagues my body, I know that it makes me feel like I constantly have the flu.  But, I don’t like to give in to it.  Yes, sometimes I simply can’t help but give in to it, but otherwise I keep it in the far reaches of my being.  The world is not about me, it’s about other people.  I know that and I never want that to change.  The world of lupus does, however, exist out there and it wouldn’t be fair of me not to recognize it and speak of it occasionally.  On Thursday, I received an update from the Lupus Research Institute advising me that our nation’s leading lupus research investigators may have an innovative new discovery.  A simple blood test may be able to predict lupus flares in the future.  This absolutely remarkable (REMARKABLE!) discovery is now licensed for development.  A test like this is so very critical because there is currently no way to predict when a person with systemic lupus (like me) is moving from remission into a flare.  More than 1.5 million Americans (and millions more worldwide) suffer from this chronic and unpredictable autoimmune illness in which the body’s immune system attacks otherwise healthy tissues and organs.  With this new discovery at least I know our donation funding is helping to move this disease forward… one little baby step at a time!

And, as always, please "Share in the Power of a Wish" and refer a child to the Make-A-Wish Foundation today!

With Love,