A triumph

Last night the hubs and I decided to take Allie the Boxer on a walk. We headed to the nature trail and told Jim that I'd probably not be able to walk very far since I hadn't done any exercise since last summer. For the past two years, when I'd walk, I'd get a horrible aching pain in my rib cage and have to spend the rest of the walk holding my sides and my back. I just thought I was fat and feeling the effects and wouldn’t think another thing about it. Well…last night was the first night in a very long time that the feeling of pain didn’t hit me right after beginning my walk. It was a realization I had about three quarters of the way. I didn’t have that pesky pain feeling. I couldn’t believe it. The pain must have been from my Connective Tissue Disease all this time. I don’t know if anyone that doesn’t have Lupus will ever understand what I triumph that walk was for me. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like quitting. I could keep walking without having to hold my ribs. It was the best feeling in the world. Slowly by surely, I’m thinking of more and more symptoms or pains I’ve suffered from in the last three years that were probably Lupus. All the times I thought I was really out of shape or just overweight, I felt bad because I was actually sick. In a twisted sort of way, that’s such a relief. Now, at least, I can take one pill everyday and all of my pains go away. All the times I thought I was going crazy because I never felt good are slowly being explained and I love it. Thank God for Rheumatologists!