Lupus Awareness Month

If there is one word I am fond of, it is the word, CURE.

Whether talking about different types of autoimmune diseases or cancer, I believe there is still a lot of hope to be had for cures!

The only time I don’t care for the word is when it is being misused and giving false hope to people who live with any type of disease that is not currently curable.

In the past, I had a dietician tell me that just by eating low inflammation foods and following a specific dietary regiment, my autoimmune disease(s) – yes, I have two – were “curable”.

Now, I am certainly not a dietician, nutritionist, a physician or anything of the sorts BUT I will tell you that I did not fall off the “autoimmune truck” yesterday ? Not to mention, I am a firm believer we must be our own advocates – especially when it comes to our health. With that being said, I have read plenty of credible scholarly articles and have had more conversations with experts than you could shake a stick at. And guess what, there is, unfortunately, currently not a cure for Lupus.

My point in sharing this with you is because when I was told that by the dietician, I was extremely vulnerable to false hope. My diseases were newly diagnosed and I was desperately trying to find a way to deny my new reality. And the difference between counting on only a particular diet vs. some medications that were necessary and life saving for me, was huge.

Please do not get me wrong, I am ALL for natural remedies, eastern medicine, etc. and would be absolutely good with any other approach than having to take medications BUT that just isn’t my reality or many others reality.

And, even though I wanted to live in denial, my intuition was throwing red flags to the advice I was given.

There is a difference between curable and managing symptoms in the world of many diseases.

FICTION: Lupus is curable (praying that will change one day soon)!
FACT: Lupus can be managed and symptoms lessened by specific dietary changes (stay tuned for another blog post on what I have found to help).

Moral to this story; asking questions, research and following your intuition are all such important actions throughout your journey with any disease. Heck, throughout your life journey as well.

No matter what your current journey is, I wish you all the wellness, courage and hope possible and please know I am always here should you or a loved one have questions.

Until next time,