31%
Only 31% of adults with lupus are employed full-time.
When I was diagnosed with lupus at the age of 23 in 2019, my world was shattered. Shattered to the point that when the doctor delivered the news over the telephone, I went on my lunch break... and never went back to work.
Only 31% of adults with lupus are employed full-time.
Now, it's 2024 and I am employed full-time at a call center- pays better than what I was working at 23 years of age too. And hey mom, it has benefits!
Benefits.
Healthcare.
Only 31% of adults with lupus are employed full-time.
I have to work to afford my treatments, I have to work to pay my health insurance. I have to work. I have to I have to.
Only 31% of adults with lupus are employed full-time.
And as I age, I grow weary and scared of the future... is this what I have to look forward to? A life on disability? A life confined to a wheelchair when I inevitably lose my ability to walk again? A life where I must choose: Chemo or death?
I'm not going to lie and say I'm not scared.
They're monitoring me for blood clots, a valve repair or replacement. Lupus. The all-consuming wolf that eats away at you and tears you limb from limb, muscle by muscle, joint by joint.
I haven't realized how overwhelmed I am until now.
I am thankful. I am blessed that my lupus is in remission and there aren't any clots at this moment.
I am blessed. I am thankful that I have a secure job, a car, and a roof over my head that I can afford along with my medical treatments.
But when does the other shoe drop?