DD dealing with Lupus and Rheumatoid arthritis

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Dec 27, 2015
9
0
Cali
My daughter is a freshman this year. She was diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disease a couple of years ago. MCTD is a combination of autoimmune disorders. She is primarily suffers from Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Reynaud's syndrome. She loves softball, and is determined to be a pitcher despite her body fighting her the whole way. She has been able play on her JV team most of this season. Does anyone know of a player suffering from Lupus or RA that would be interested in being pen pals with my daughter? I think it would be helpful for her to have someone her own age to talk to who to is going through similar issues wile playing softball.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Nov 26, 2010
4,784
113
Michigan
Sorry I can't help you here. My dd, who is a junior in college, has 2 auto immune disorders, type 1 diabetes and celiac disease, plus sports induce asthma. Completely different issues then your dd has. But enough to understand the difficulty she has doing things other athletes take for granted.

All I can say is good luck to your dd and I am proud of her for working hard through this. It's not easy, but her efforts to live her life on her terms is admirable.
 
Jul 19, 2014
2,390
48
Madison, WI
Tennis star Venus Williams also has a similar auto immune disorder, Sjorgren's Syndrome. This is similar enough to Lupus that it is not always easy to tell the difference, and often they are mistaken for each other. My DW was diagnosed with Sjorgren's Syndrome, and her sister was diagnosed with Lupus. I have no idea if they have different disorders, or the same one with one of them being misdiagnosed.

Amazing that Venus Williams is one of the very, very top tennis players in the world even with Sjorgren's Syndrome. OTOH, she can't do everything her sister Serena can do. Venus gets tired, but still has more energy than 99.99% of women her age. She just doesn't have the energy Serena has. But then, 99.999999% of the women in the world can't keep up with Serena Williams.

Two things:

First, life will be more difficult. Things will not be as good as she would hope.
Second, things won't be as bad as she may fear. My DW's health has deteriorated some, for example, but not nearly as much as I feared.

Be very careful. I think my DW's eyesight has deteriorated from the ordeal, from getting too dry. These diseases can dry out the eyes and mouth and throat, which doesn't help at all. She can still lead a productive life, but it takes work to keep things under control.
 

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