When I seem to mention the word Lupus it seems as though it is a foreign word and everyone is like wait what is that? "Oh I have a friend who has that but I don't know much about it." well buddy you should know what your friend is going through day after day. Lupus is a disease that apparently not many people know about, never heard about in their life, or knows a friend who has it. I knew two people with this disease and there is a high chance that I am at risk for getting this disease, because one of those people who had Lupus was my mom. Many of you are probably wondering: how do I contract this disease? How can I prevent getting this disease? And the answer is to this day no one knows 100% how anyone contracts this disease and how they can prevent it. The only thing that can be speculated is that this disease tends to run in families but is very hard to trace back in a family tree. It can skip one generation or 10 generations. The disease can be supressed but there is no cure. There are two kinds of Lupus. The "good" kind and the "bad" kind. The proper name for the "bad" kind of Lupus is called Systemic lupus erythematosus. This is the kind my mom had and it is the "bad" kind. The disease goes to attack the immune system, but not stopping there, also attacks the tissue, joints, heart, skin, lungs, nervous system and pretty much every other thing that exists in the human body. The disease is unpredictable and the symptoms pretty much come on when they feel like it even when it is suppressed with the wonderful medication for it. Lupus can occur at any age and of course is most common in women. You may be thinking right now that this disease sounds similar to alot of other diseases but Lupus tends to mimic other diseases because the symptoms come and go as they please. Let's explore what symptoms will be with this unheard of disease shall we? Discoid Lupus what I call "good" lupus only appears on the skin. They both appear on the skin but the "bad kind of Lupus is the one that also goes into the body and attacks everything. To me it looks like someone got attacked by a swarm of very pissed off mosquitos or has chicken pox or maybe hives all over there face or even entire body. There is a 1%-5% chance of this Lupus turning into the "bad" Lupus. Both the "good" and "bad" Lupus have "rashes" that they receive from this disease that tend to be very red in color and group together on the skin. Going to a dermotologist for a biopsy is the best diagnosis for this disease. My mom received a wrong diagnosis for about the first 4 months she had Lupus and it spared her valuable time. With both types of Lupus constant fatigue consists in about 90% of patients. it can be mild or the person could be so tired they just want to sleep all the time. Many people with Lupus are sensitive to sunlight. My mom had to wear a jacket, a hat, long pants and cover her entire body just to go outside for 10 minutes even if it was 100 degrees outside. Lupus also causes temporary hair loss but the hair tends to grow back. In my mom's case I had to buzz off all of her hair and it didn't grow back very well. The wonderful medication they have a Lupus patient on consisted of around 10 different medications a day (in my mom's case at least). You have the steroid to keep the rashes from coming, which makes the person jittery and hungry constantly, therefore something needs to be prescribed to relax. The celebrax slows the deteroiration of the joints. Most the medication makes them sick to their stomach so something to calm the stomach down needs to be prescribed also. There are many other medications but I really can't remember them all. Last but not least a typical week for someone with "bad" Lupus. Wake up in the morning with pain, rash break out during the day which you will spend the next week just to get rid of the rash only to get another "flare up" (rash) put prescription ointmint on because the skin is peeling off. get embarrassed because you have many large rashes all over your face, your arms, your legs and every where else. Now let's try to go outside. Put prescription 80 proof sunblock on along with a hat,a jacket, and long pants, stay out no longer than 30 minutes. Sleep half the day and try to sleep at night. Be in constant pain while you eat because the lupus has actually made sores inside your mouth and throat. Now would you like to ask your friend with Lupus how their day was? I hope everyone who reads this has learned something new and props to you for making it this far!!