"Drumming To A Different Beat"

My name is Dion Langley and I am a professional drummer. I began playing the drums at the age of 6 and soared to all sorts of heights in my career playing with some of the biggest acts and artists, but nothing prepared me for one of the biggest challenges I would soon face.

Receiving my initial diagnosis

In 2010 I was diagnosed with systematic lupus (SLE) and it completely changed my life. I went from being able to enjoy energetic and adventurous outings and activities with my children, family and loved ones to barely being able to get out of bed in the morning. Lupus was starting to impact my life in a drastic way. After numerous ER visits and tests, the one thing I had done longer than almost anything else in my life was being threatened when being told by doctors that due to the chronic fatigue and pain and inflammation in the joints that lupus caused I would never play again. The aches pains associated with lupus are debilitating. And I often find myself having to take long therapeutic baths just to get some kind of relief from the pain not controlled by medications. The obstacles I face daily with lupus were far more demanding than I would have ever imagined they’d be.

The daily impact of lupus

Lupus can attacks and destroy any of the organs so, in addition to my diagnosis of lupus, I also developed pericarditis which is a heart condition associated with lupus, a condition that causes pain in the chest, irregular heartbeat and shortness of breath.
After a period of fear, frustration and almost feeling defeated I realize the only way I was going to beat Lupus was I had to activate and allow my faith in God to truly work in my life.

Faith, and trust, #beatlupus

God revealed to me that your career as a professional drummer gives you a platform to reach millions of people use it to bring awareness to this disease as well as educate which birthed my vision #Beatlupus. Through #Beatlupus I want to be the male voice for lupus and make a nationwide impact on the entire lupus community. I want to reach all the lupus warriors (especially men) as well as the families and loves as well to be equipped with as much knowledge as possible, to know what it takes to live a long, successful and productive life all while living with lupus.