Why am I doing this?

On Sept 14, 2005 my lovely wife Emmanuelle was diagnosed with Lupus—a chronic, incurable and dangerous auto-immune disorder—and our life has never been the same.
 
Most people are aware that when people get organ transplants, their immune systems will attack those organs as “foreign” and try to kill them unless the folks get massive immune suppression drugs to prevent this.  Lupus is a disease in which a person’s immune system “forgets” that an organ is their own, and starts attacking it like a transplant, for no reason.  If it attacks your heart or your brain, you die.  If it attacks your kidneys, you need dialysis the rest of your life.  If it attacks your joints, you “only” get arthritis.  And on, and on, and on.  A never-ending struggle against yourself.
 
One big side effect of all this is deep fatigue.  Most of us can remember a time when we were down with the flu, and we were literally TOO TIRED to get up and use the restroom.  We’d just hold it another hour or two, because our bone tired bodies just felt like it was too hard to get out of bed and walk to the other room.  That’s literally what lupus patients feel like, all the time.  The tiredness of the flu isn’t caused by the flu itself, but by your own immune system being so active.  And lupus patients’ immune systems are ALWAYS active.
 
If you met my wife, you would never know she is sick.  She is beautiful, cheerful, a loving wife and mother, and a great friend to those who know her.  But it wouldn’t be obvious that she was in bed all day, until 30 minutes before it was time to go meet up with you, and she’ll be going back to bed when the event is over and she makes it back home.  Her numerous doctors and specialists are amazed that she isn’t depressed—many lupus patients are.
 
She loves decorating our house for Christmas, but with her energy level it takes her ages.  An hour or two a day, for several weeks, with several rest days off in between.  At the end though, every room looks like a Hallmark postcard.

In honor of her love for Christmas, I’m going to run this campaign between now and Christmas. Please donate at the link above if you can.
 

Keith Fulton
Emmanuelle’s husband

Did you know?

• Lupus is a mysterious and misunderstood autoimmune disease. It strikes without warning, affects each person differently, and has no known causes or cure.
• Lupus symptoms can be severe and highly unpredictable and can damage any organ or tissue, from the skin or joints to the heart or kidneys.
• While lupus can strike anyone at any time, 90% of people living with lupus are women. Women of color are at especially high risk.
• Only one drug has ever been developed and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration specifically to treat the disease.

Together, we can solve the cruel mystery of lupus. Thank you for your generosity!