Juggling New Symptoms and A New Job

When being a mother with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), discoid lupus and a new job, it can be overwhelming. I am currently in a flare up that I have been having for the past two weeks. It itches and swells up like welts, then when I take my steroids it calms down into a natural flare up. I am currently taking only prednisone, Plaquenil, and Benlysta, but my life has been a merry-go-round.

This rash pops up in different spots every other day. But this week it took over my whole back, arms, chest, neck, and hands. In came that burning sensation, I just want it to stop.

When my body locks up

The weather change came in, and what does that mean? That's right! Joint pain and muscle spasms at their finest. Everything is starting to lock up. Try being a mother to kids and you're trying to take care of them, and your body just locks up.

Its very painful but the children are not going to understand until they are older. Never understand why their mommy can't go to this event. Ever since I had my daughter, it has been like a wildfire with my body. And being under a lot of stress doesn’t help.

Changes and triggers with lupus

I decided to get off of disability and go back to working. Now I currently work from home. I work for a company where we help people get to and from their appointments.

This job is better, because I am able to be a mother while working at home. It brings me happiness to still be around my kids during the day. The only thing that gets rocky is the mental state when it comes to jobs. I see why a lot of people that are going through something prefer a work from home job. When we get sick the bills don’t stop, and providing for my children is enough for me to say hey, its time to get up.

In the midst of me getting this new job a lot more has happened. My car broke down (I do not recommend a Kia). I tried checking the recalls and I have none on my car. I had gotten my car in 2020 and now she just sits there waiting for a new engine. From the outside everything looks fine but from the inside my (car) baby is gone. That was another flare up trigger.

Mothering and working

Being a mother could be the best thing that ever happened to me in life, but it seems like my lupus gets the best of me sometimes. I try to go out like normal people sometimes (not when the sun is out), and I still catch a flare up and exhaust my body. I have to be able to work, but then mother duties never stop.

On the bright side, I make more now though than I did on disability. Remember, never give up because you will always have someone looking at you, especially your children.