New Semester. New Challenges

So, the new semester starts today & will hopefully include a return to normalcy...or some approximation of normalcy at least. Settling back down in a set schedule and having a normal routine that includes and works around my class schedule and assignments will hopefully make it easier to tell people no more often on certain things. As a "lupie" you only have so much strength and energy for the things you have to do and want to do. Most lupies (aprox 80%) are female. Most are also of childbearing age when diagnosed (between 18 & 35 is average time most lupies are diagnosed as having lupus). This is also a very busy age range when we are starting work and/or attending college. It is when people begin to settle into new roles in their life as an adult and are often times preparing for marriage and a family of their own (maybe!). But due to lupus we often don't have as much energy as we had before. When you couple that with the chronic pain, oftentimes insomnia, brain fog most lupies experience to some degree at various times things are often harder to do.

I think, for me at least, it helps if I have some sort of routine to how I organize what I need to do and what I want to do. I have a calendar that has my classes filled in as well as doctor visits, birthdays, and any deadlines I need to complete something buy (i.e. when a scholly application is due). I also have built in "no time". No time is a variation on me time. It is time I have set aside that I am not doing any favors for anyone....it's also usually specific to my sister and her teenage sons who constantly want me to do something, go somewhere. Every so often I'll tell them something like "from now until Tuesday morning I am saying no to everything....favors, help, rides....anything they feel can't wait they are more than welcome to find somebody else to say yes but it won't be me.

By doing these things and having that "no time" when things get to be overly hectic at school or when I start to feel run down is a life saver for me, especially dealing with managing my lupus.

For anybody reading my blog who doesn't understand how tough it is to live w/ lupus & function normally I suggest checking out my next post which I am going to borrow from someone who can explain what it feels like to other people MUCH better than I can.