LUPUS RELATED NEWS & UPDATES
Latest news from the Lupus Trust
For some people, like me, pets are quite simply a lifeline, it’s no wonder that an estimated 41% of UK households have pets.
Speak to any pet owner and they’ll reel off an endless list of ways their pets have changed their lives. They can be our best friend and, for a patient with chronic illness, a furry friend can provide much more than companionship and cuddles. Studies show that animals can help with everything from lowering stress and blood pressure, to battling depression and helping with chronic pain.
When asked to describe themselves people often say they are someone’s mother/father/sister/brother/wife/husband, maybe what they do for a living, where they live and so on, but how would you describe yourself? In amongst the words would lupus or pain or exhausted etc be part of the description? Think about the quiz shows where the teams introduce themselves, “My name is John, I’m 51 and a Managing Director from Essex”, not once do they say “and I have lupus (or any other chronic illness)”.
When you have a chronic illness and particularity when you’re in the midst of a very bad episode or flare, it’s hard to feel grateful for anything. We get overwhelmed by everything we have to cope with and forget to express gratitude, yet if you think about it we all have something to be grateful for.
When you’re having a flare you really don’t want to move much so this might help. You can prepare a flare or bad day box/bag in advance to have ready for when you need things close at hand. The idea is to put everything you might need into the box, include all your favourite things and a few treats.
