Warrior: Meredith King

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​Biography

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​Looking back over my life I now see all the signs. It took about 5 years to finally get an answer as to why I always felt sick.

There are a lot of things that are hard for me to remember so this is my story as best as I can tell… I remember starting to

feel pain & fatigue around the age of fourteen. My family thought I was being a hypochondriac & seeking attention. I pushed

through most of it as best as I could. By the end of my senior year in high school the pain was getting so excruciatingly bad

that I would cry, every single day. Everyone thought I was crazy! My doctor gave me some anti-depressants, pain medicine

& diagnosed me with Raynaud’s. The temporary fix only lasted until my sophomore year of college. My health was decreasing

while the pain & fatigue was increasing. My boyfriend, at the time, was overseas in Afghanistan. So, once again, everyone

thought I was seeking attention. By the end of the semester I was losing my long pretty hair, developing horrible mouth

sores & an ugly red rash over my face, hands, feet & knees. I dropped from 125 pounds to 103 pounds in one month.

There were days I would drive myself all the way to school & never even get out of my car once I reached the parking lot. The fatigue & the pain was literally taking over my life. I wasn't passing school, my boss was ready to fire me & my only sister was about to deliver her first child. I did not want my niece or my sister to have a dead beat aunt. So, I became my own advocate & I was determined to find some answers. My primary care doctor agreed that my health was out of his league & sent me to a well-known rheumatologist. (I now know that he had to pull some strings to get me in. The wait is one year to see this man & I got in the next day) I spent five hours at this prestigious rheumatologist office to receive what I thought was a death sentence. He told me I either had Systemic Lupus Erythematous, Multiple Sclerosis or I was crazy. Since there is no lupus test the doctor told me he wanted to see me every two weeks for three months & also run a “trial and error” with different medications. Being introduced to prednisone was my favorite part of the trial and error. I have such a love hate relationship with this medication, but for the first time in five years I felt normal. My lab work was insanely off balance every time I went to clinic, except for when I took prednisone. My doctor accredits prednisone for my diagnosis. After three months of doctor visits, lots of prednisone, lab draws, urine analysis & x-rays I was diagnosed with Lupus. I thought my life was over. It became a huge secret in my life & no one was allowed to say the L word. My friends had no idea what was going on & I had no plans of telling them. I had no clue how to explain to anyone the way I was feeling or the reason I was so angry & had the munchies every day (prednisone). The day I ran across a lupus support page changed my life. For once, I felt like someone else in this world understood how I felt. I was finally able to cope with the diagnosis of lupus & I learned ways to tell my friends what was happening. It took close to a year to tell everyone I have lupus. However, I found support from people that will always have a special place in my heart. I consider my niece one of the biggest blessings in my life. She brought me the determination to get better & I will forever be thankful for that. I am extremely blessed that I can now say my lupus is under control. It took about two years to find the right lupus remedy. The pain & the fatigue is still with me every day. My long pretty hair has grown back for the most part, the mouth sores are at a minimum, & the lovely butterfly rash has become easier to hide. I made the decision to never let lupus define me. I believe that God blessed me with a life of lupus so I can encourage other lupus fighters & hopefully one day raise enough awareness that we can find a cure. Lupus is a cruel & mysterious disease. Lupus will never have me; I am a fighter that is struggling every day with lupus.

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