I don’t really wonder about whether or not I can do it anymore. I choose to do it, and that’s it. I will continue to make it work. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t aggravate me or stress me out. It certainly does.

I just want to make sure that people know the reality of the situation for my wife and myself. It’s far from perfect, but we do our best because we love each other and we love our kids.

We also just got back from a long road trip. Driving for hours through the high desert reminded me of your blog about in-car sun exposure problems. You mentioned being put off by the expense of tinted windows. Have you ever tried “off-label” use of a windshield sunshade? We’ve used one for years and recently figured out it can also be used as a sort of passenger-side “sunbrella.” The type we use has a reflective silver facing on one side (it’s the “Heatshield” brand). It’s light weight and heat-insulating as well. Since it’s stiff, you can unroll just enough to block the sun from the front or side and still enjoy plenty of air circulation. The notch that normally fits around the rear-view mirror when the car is parked comes in handy for fitting around the shoulder belt anchor–perfect for when the sun is attacking from over your shoulder. Even with the shield in front of your knees, air conditioning can still flow freely up from around your feet to keep the shaded area cool.

Of course you have to be careful not to let it reflect sun into the driver’s eyes or block his view.

It’s a little awkward, but it makes all the difference for me. And it’s probably less expensive than tinting.

I wish sun shirts, hats and sunscreen were this effective. But even when I use them all together they’re never enough, at least not for long. It must be that some sun gets through, or else there’s reflective UV radiation from surrounding surfaces.

It’s awful spending beautiful, long summer days indoors. I miss trail riding a lot.

Thanks always & best wishes,
Wendy

I can understand how your wife feels, it seems the sun has now become our enemy. We lupies just can’t win at all. I can understand how hard it for you dealing with your wife’s lupus. It got its way of kicking us the __ all the way around.