I thought it might be useful to start a series of book chats that deal with some of the lupus literature that’s out there. It will also make me actually read these books, instead of just searching through the index for whatever it is that I have a question about. If you have a copy of the book, follow along with me as I read and then we’ll have a dialog in the comment section. If you don’t have a copy, and your local library doesn’t have a copy, you can get one through the Amazon link, or just read what I have to say about it. It will be good for me to really go through these books in depth. I will try and pull some online references that are appropriate to each chapter.

I’ve read the first chapter of Living With Lupus: All the Knowledge You Need to Help Yourself by Sheldon Paul Blau, M.D. with Dodi Schultz. The last time I looked at the Amazon link it had a used copy for a penny. I’m reading the first edition, so if you have the second edition, you can let everyone know if there’s anything new.

Chapter One of the book is called In Their Own Words: How It Began. In this first chapter, Dr. Blau introduces seven women and gives a brief explanation of how they first discovered that they had lupus. Each of the women have a very different initial experience, but it is usually as Dr. Blau says,

The first experience with lupus is often recognized only in retrospect – seen at the time as something else or, often, simply an enigma. Only when lupus is finally suspected and diagnosed may it be clear that events that took place months or even years earlier were actually – or, at least, possibly – signs and symptoms of lupus, or that seemingly unrelated incidents may actually have been connected.

I know that my wife has recently been writing about her childhood and her initial lupus diagnosis, and she now believes that many of her early medical incidents were lupus related.

The stories of the seven women continue to develop throughout the book. Here are their names and initial symptoms:

• Anita – pleurisy
• Connie – rheumatoid arthritis, thrombophlebitis, mouth ulcers, vasculitis, and an allergy to sulfa drugs
• Eileen – false-positive test for syphilis, sulfa drug allergy, and acute polyarthritis
• Elizabeth – fever, fatigue, and a minor fracture that would not heal
• Jan – changes in menstrual patterns, joint pain, rashes, hair loss, and Sjorgren’s syndrome
• Lisa – sunlight sensitivity and rashes
• Nancy – arthritis and Raynaud’s phenomenon

That’s the first chapter of the book. What are some of your reactions, or can you share some of your initial experiences with lupus?