My sister, Holly Ogletree has lupus, an autoimmune disease that most people have not heard much. For those of you who know your history, you know something that lupus can cause a person. Although he had never heard of Lupus knew what it was until Holly was diagnosed. She has lupus erythematosus, or SLE, which affected his heart, lungs, kidneys, blood and other things. More recently it has been affected by Lupus Nephritis. Lupus nephritis is an inflammation of the kidneys caused by SLE. It's just a complication of systemic lupus erythematosus. Not that this is not enough, Holly was diagnosed with Systemic Scleroderma. This is also an autoimmune disorder. I've learned that once you are victimized by one, other autoimmune disorders can follow. Holly is 33 years with 4 children. In their late 20's started going to the doctor with various issues. Doctors usually dismiss their symptoms. He later told doctors that they had to be sure that this was not the result of depression or some other issue. It took about 2 years to finally get a diagnosis. Soon after, also was diagnosed with scleroderma. When meeting with Holly, would have no idea that she is concerned about this. She has no skin problems that may accompany these diseases, and tries to maintain a normal life. Unfortunately, extreme fatigue, kidney pain, tension and extreme headaches have caused his slower. His kidneys are still the most affected. The last test, his kidneys were scored a 3 on a scale of 15, with 5 in renal failure. Since then his condition has worsened. They have not been able to do another biopsy, and wants now, so I do not know how bad it is, but we know that's not good. A treatment for lupus is chemotherapy. This is not a cure, but potentially put the disease into remission. She was to be treated with the chemotherapy drug cytoxin about a year ago, but an interesting finding that prevent it. Lupus is more and more aggressive, and the doctors were not sure how to stop it. So the best option was to go ahead with chemotherapy. Holly underwent a CT and ultrasound to determine is that you can move cytoxin treatment. During the TAC, which was stopped because of the concern. Not knowing what was happening, they stopped in a room and several of the doctors came in, who proceeded to explain that due to deficiencies of vitamin B that is (very low and without vitamin D in your body), which has not been able to break the fatsoluble compounds thus the birth control she was placed in could not be processed by your body, thus becoming ineffective. Therefore, she learned she is pregnant! Needless to say, this was not in his plan. He was very upset. The good news in all this is that pregnancy actually put your body into remission. This is one of the rare set of circumstances that this may happen. Not only knowing she was pregnant, but she was 20 weeks, and she was a little girl. Can you imagine discovering her pregnancy and that, far from being so With some of the other health problems it addresses, nobody thought (even doctors) that this could happen. He had massive fibroids, has been treated for cervical cancer that threatens his neck to the point he did not think could support a baby, and only for the drugs in his body was not terminate the pregnancy. They believe that fibroids really support the baby and eases pressure on the cervix. She was able to carry out a normal pregnancy and birth to a very healthy child (child # 4). Although Elle was a surprise, she is a blessing for Holly. Holly is now a very proud mother of four! After birth babies umbilical cord blood was collected and the option of a stem cell transplant was offered. If the blood was a match, this could provide an opportunity for a 4050% cure. Unfortunately, it was a pretty close match. So for now, that the blood is stored and in a situation of life or death for my use. As if all this were not enough, Holly now has to face to fight the insurance companies. Holly had been divorced from a destructive marriage. She expanded health coverage for a while, but now its time is up and has had to find their own coverage. Because preexisting conditions, Holly moved away from most insurance companies. Under the government plan to Ohio, which has limited coverage and none of their current medical are covered. To buy the guaranteed coverage under HIPAA law, you pay $ 1500 $ 1800 per month with limited coverage. In order to obtain adequate coverage, Holly is back to work to ensure health insurance for herself and her children. The eldest son is 16. His eldest son had undergone surgery to correct spinal scoliosis, which is also being seen as a preexisting condition. No coverage through her work, she is also not covered. There was about a month that Holly was only covered by the state plan. This does not cover her medical CT scans, chest radiographs, treatment IV ($ 100250 every two days) and other drugs. We are waiting for the bills. Once you start Chemo, no one knows whether it will be able to continue working, leading to its full circle back. In addition, she has no dental coverage and a mouth full of decayed teeth that need filling. Due to deficiency of vitamins and medicines, their teeth have suffered. She has been dealing with this for several years and has a fight ahead of her. We are hopefull and pray that the doctors can help overcome all the challenges facing her. Lupus is treatable but not curable. Investigation of current treatments are limited and must be followed. br br
