Kid

Hi! My name is Kid, well, actually that is the nickname I grew up with.  I have always had a very stubborn streak and these days that streak has become more prevalent.  I am a disabled vet, while serving in Iraq I messed up my leg (non-combat related) which resulted in permanent damage.   I was told I would never walk normally again, but I refused to buy it. Well, I bought it for a while but then I realized it was a bunch of poo and I refused to roll over and play dead.  I started running, I was slow but I was doing the best I could.  I am not saying my leg got all better because it didn’t; I had to be VERY careful, running on the right terrain, the right weather, etc.

In 2009 my body went nuts.  My feet hurt so bad I could barely walk.  My shoulder/neck went out.  I felt like I had an elephant on my chest.  My knee was killing.  The list goes on and on.  I went to my doc and to specialists.  My podiatrist tested me for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), but it came back negative.  In 2010 my doc started putting one and one together and did a full lab work up on me.  A few days later I get a call telling me to start taking D-3 immediately and scheduled a follow up appointment within the next week or so.  I went in and my doc asked me if anyone in my family has a connective tissue disease.  Do what? She explained that according to my problems and my lab work she suspected I had lupus, but she wanted to run the tests again in a few months.  A few month later we re-run the lab results and they come back the same.  I got a referral to a rheumatologist, months later I go through another massive round of questions and x-rays and lab work.  January 2011 I received the official diagnosis of lupus, in the same breath the doctor tells me I should keep my job or make sure I work for a company that provides medical insurance because I am no longer insurable (I know, great bed side manor).  Lucky she dropped me as a patient and I found a rheumy who actually listens.  He agreed with the lupus diagnosis, but he suspects I also have the beginning of RA.

Luckily I live with my sister, Nink, and she is just as stubborn as I am.  My boys look up to her as their “Auntie Mommy” and she has no qualms putting me in my place, telling me she doesn’t care what I want this is how it will be done period! She and I joke around needing a divorce because we think so much alike.

I still run when I can, even when that is not possible I still try to live every day with a smile on my face!