I am a 23 year old full time student, in my last year of pursuing a B.F.A. with hopes of starting graduate school next fall, eventually becoming a college professor.
Looking back over the last couple of years I can see the beginnings of what has recently become one of the most frightening check of reality I have come to face, I fear I have Lupus. Short of the blood tests to prove it, I show an overwhelming number of symptoms. The tests for inflammation in my body show nearly triple what they should be, which is what sent me in search of health insurance since being dropped from my parents when I turned 21.
Since that time, when i was dropped from my parents health insurance plan, not only has the inflammation increased and new joints are being attacked on an increasing basis, the fatigue and fevers have increased. Some days the pain is so bad or I find myself so weak that I can not get out of bed.It has started to affect my vision to the point that I am very concerned about losing my sight completely. I can not go outside, which is the place I love to be most, for any length of time without covering my skin and wearing dark sunglasses, because the sun not only hurts my eyes but causes rashes on my skin. I also suffer from a rare genetic disorder that affects my reproductive organs that causes me great pain, amongst other symptoms, which affect the possibility of childbirth. It is questionable how the two diseases will play together... I may lose the little chance that I hold onto of being able to have a child, not that I would want to with the fear of passing such things on.
As a full time student who works 60+ hours a week towards her education alone and no income outside of the loans that I receive to pay for school and another to live off of, which has been cut and/or denied for the upcoming year, I have had to turn to family to be able to secure the little extremely expensive health care that I have now. Which only allows me to secure health care once or twice a year and/or in situation of immediate emergency, such as immediate organ failure, extremely high fever, etc. This not only prevents me from proper diagnosis and seeking a quality doctor with extensive knowledge on the subject, who can help me get better and or improve my life. It also prevents me from seeking a doctor who can slow the rapid spread of the disease that could easily lead to the crippling or fatality of myself. Which is something that could easily be avoided with proper health care.