Interviews

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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.

Hope Through Song

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My wife has had this project on the back burner for some time now. She would like to start producing music that will inspire those with lupus and educate those who do not know how this chronic illness changes the lives of so many. As it says on the Hope Through Song website, “It is our goal to touch as many people as possible to let them know they are not alone and that there is hope after diagnosis.”

I’ve heard some of the tracks of the songs she’s been working on and I think it’s a great project.

Why all at once?

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Why does everything seem to happen all at once?

Things just continue to pile up. We’ve had car trouble in the thousands of dollars, because of maintenance and accidents. Stuff is falling apart around the house. Jenny had a severe reaction to Arava which was very scary. My work is insane, and when I say insane, I mean crazy, like dressed up like Mayor McCheese shooting up a Burger King crazy. It’s all too much for me, I guess.

Knowing that it is never smart to ignore symptoms, I went to the doctor to see why I’ve been having chest pain. I went expecting to hear, “Oh, you are stressed out. You are fine.” That’s what I expected, but that’s not the answer I got. I got, “Oh, well, you may be having some issues. You need to go to a cardiologist.”

Seriously? Now? I don’t have time right now.

Ignoring Symptoms

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Sometimes when people deal with chronic pain or with an ongoing illness, they will start to ignore symptoms that may be warning signs of serious complications. They may ignore them because they are to busy to be bothered with them, or they may just be so used to those types of problems that they assume that they are just more of the same problem.

It is essential that lupus patients remain aware and proactive when dealing with new symptoms or old symptoms that return with regularity. A trip to the doctor may be inconvenient, but it could save your life. Sometimes when the ostrich sticks its head in the ground, it gets run over by a jeep.

The lesson for the week is don’t get run over by a jeep.