28th March 2014.

28/3/2014

Pt has relapsed lupus nephrithis and not responding to oral steroids.

For Xray today & 3 dose of

IV MIP 250mg --> today
31/3/2014
01/04/2014

Thank you.

Dr. Rizna

Relapsed : 21st February 2014

A month ago, I was getting ready to go for an event in Ipoh... Bandar Seri Iskandar, to be exact. I had volunteered to promote Safer Malaysia thru a talk at the shopping mall.

It was a Friday. Almost closing time. Preparing to go for a trip. Mind is set that way.

The exact moment was at 5pm. One boss in office and the other just went home. I got up... and noticed.

I relapsed.

Bloated feet. Frothy urine... the unsettling feeling. I knew I was back to battling the disease. SLE.

My last relapse was in 2009. It has been 6 years of clear from all signs of SLE.

2 days from my birthday.. a day away from my trip to Ipoh. I had to evaluate and think fast. What should I do...? I had to weight my odds. Should I get admitted in hospital? Should I increase my prednisalone (steroids) to 10mg?

It was a Friday. No matter what, if I get admitted, it would not make any difference. I am familiar to the hospital's protocols. Unless you are dying, which they would act a bit faster, the hospital would not treat your case as of importance.

I had a choice. My choice was to stop everything. Concentrate on the getting better part. OR... I could increase my meds on my own, which I had done once before... and continue living til the weekend is over. After all, I can only deal with the hospitals on clinic days - Thursdays and Fridays.

First things first... I had to go and inform my boss. It was easier to show my bloated feet. So, I did.

His reaction was, Oh Shit.

I explained. My reason of informing was to make sure that... if things go bad this weekend, possibility of ke getting admitted on Monday will be there. Visual of my bloated feet us enough to show that I am having the symptoms of relapse.

Needless to say... I had gotten the ball rolling. First step to healing.. is not eating the meds.. it is acknowledging that you have a problem.

I took a step not to mention my relapse to my mother or my sister. Reason being, I wanted to learn.

Call me selfish.. which I think I am learning that trait too... but, I needed to learn. I want to find out how I would cope with my illness. I needed to grow.

So it begins... my relapse saga.

And this will start my story again. The diary of an SLE patient.

Sarah Kambali.