A couple of interviews involving lupus came out this week.
The first one was at The Lupus Magazine, and featured Jenny. Here’s the link if you want to check it out – From Figure Skater to Opera Singer – The story of an inspirational Soprano. I don’t feel like I’m in a good position to comment regarding the interview, but I think it was really nice of them to give Jenny the opportunity to talk about her experiences and what she hopes to accomplish.
The other interview was Larry King’s interview with Lady Gaga. If you had told me a year ago that I would talking about Lady Gaga at all right now, I wouldn’t have believed you. I really didn’t know anything about her back then, other than I was too old and square to be interested in some new pop icon. This is an interesting and intelligent young woman. I’ve thought so ever since I saw her interview with Barbara Walters, and I enjoyed this interview with Larry King as well. Will her comments have any impact on lupus awareness? I don’t know. Maybe. We shouldn’t underestimate the power of pop culture. Lady Gaga spoke about lupus as an illness that should be taken very seriously. I don’t see how that can be a bad thing.
The problem with the Lady GaGa interview is that she gave misleading information. She stated she tested “borderline positive”. Anyone with lupus knows there is no single test to identify lupus. And, may people have false positive ANAs and never develop lupus.
Yippee she’s trying to bring it out into the open, but if she is going to continue to do this…she needs to know what she is talking about so she doesn’t make it harder for the rest of us.
Jeff, I just stumbled on the article on Jenny when checking The Lupus Mag link on my homescreen. I was blown away by the article first, because it tells such a compelling story of accomplishment in spite of great difficulties related to having lupus. It’s hard to imagine pushing through to such a level of achievement in the face of so much adversity. But I was really blown away when I got to the end of the article and found the link to your blog. Couldn’t believe this is the same Jenny I’d read about through your posts over the years. I KNOW how true the lupus mag article’s depictions of her struggles are because I remember reading about them on your blog. (Don’t know if you remember this, but I think I was your first or near-first reader when I found your blog by googling “lupus + insomnia.”)
Wishing you both all the best and continued success. And thanks, now, to you BOTH for bringing lupus into the open and showing both the struggles it poses and the possibilities that, in some, it cannot quash.