Befriending the Wolf: The Guide to Living and Thriving with Lupus - Softcover

Diericx, Milly

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1630478741 ISBN 13: 9781630478742

Publisher: Morgan James Publishing, 2016

Synopsis

Milly Diericx nearly died in a full-blown Lupus attack. But she not only survived – she learned to thrive. In these pages, she reveals the keys to her survival, how she reframed what was happening to her, and the practical ways to alleviate common physical symptoms and emotions related to this disease.

Befriending The Wolf: A Guide to Living and Thriving with Lupus is a comprehensive guide to alternative methods of healing for this pervasive ailment. You will experience self-esteem, emotional wellbeing and proven, practical tips from the inside-out. Milly Diericx has dedicated her life to trying alternative healing modalities, speaking clearly and honestly about them and their efficacy.

Milly reveals how the answer to the unique questions posed by having an autoimmune disease can be found in a three-tiered system, approaching our physical, mental-emotional and spiritual dimensions in order to bring greater healing to our whole beings.

Befriending The Wolf: A Guide to Living and Thriving with Lupus brings together home remedies, tips, alternative techniques and healing methods designed to make autoimmune disease sufferers more comfortable, their symptoms easier to manage and alleviate, and their general outlook more positive and proactive by befriending the condition and learning to work with it, instead of against it.

If you or anyone you know is suffering from Lupus or any other autoimmune disease and you’re interested in getting back in the driver’s seat, this is the guide for you.

About this title

About the Author

Milly Diericx was diagnosed with Lupus Erythematosus Systemicus in 2001. Her diagnosis inspired her to search for alternative means of dealing with this condition. She is now a dedicated therapist, teaching proven methods that bring solace and hope to others. She lives in Mexico City with her family.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

25th December, Christmas Day. My spinal cord was inflamed and horribly painful, the fever was back to alarming temperatures, my whole body arched in spasms, and I could not deal with the pain anymore. My mother searched frantically for medical help. The only doctor available was a geriatrist whose older patients tend to get sick in winter, so he hadn’t left for the holidays. My husband was still in the city, so my parents took me to the doctor’s office. He only agreed to see me on Christmas Day because my symptoms were so serious. When he saw me, doubled over in pain, sitting in a wheelchair, unable to move, burning with fever, he was appalled. I sat there listening while my mother recounted the week’s events.

Listening to the story, I could not believe it had taken this long to see a doctor. By his face, I could tell that the doctor couldn’t believe it either. In my mother’s voice, I could hear despair, guilt, helplessness. He could hear it too because he didn’t say anything to the fact that we had waited this long. He just uttered the ominous pronouncement, “I think she has lupus, an incurable disease, and by your account, she has an incredibly virulent attack. She has only a couple of days to live.” Merry Christmas! was my only coherent thought, or the only one I remember. Silence reigned. Everyone was in shock. It took a few minutes to sink in. They had to ask the question, of course: “Doctor, is there anything you can do?”

He prescribed prednisone (or cortisone) in massive doses, not with a lot of hope, but he had to do something.

When the initial shock wore off, depression set in and the next weeks were a blur. My parents called my husband with the news and he came back immediately, but I don’t really remember him being there, nor do I remember my children being there, or the nurse that was hired the next day to care for me. All I remember is the void, a huge dark void that had become my entire existence.

After a diagnosis of impending death, when you don’t die immediately, there follows an endless pilgrimage of doctors, tests of all sorts, second opinions, and general despair and confusion. My family was going berserk, taking me to specialist after specialist, looking for that person who would say something different, something they wanted to hear. They were in a panic.

I was still in shock and so darn sick that I honestly could not give a damn. I felt like a piece of driftwood in an angry sea. Decisions were made for me, I was never consulted, almost ignored, and it was just fine―I had no energy to think, let alone decide. Appointments, doctors, tests all went by in a blur. The inevitable conclusion was the same: I had systemic lupus erythematosus, an incurable and often lethal disease, and the attack was so virulent and aggressive that I would most likely die very soon. Actually, the doctors did not understand how I was alive still. They just flooded my body with huge amounts of cortisone, transplant strength immunosuppressants, quinine (Plaquenil), and kept me quiet. Time would tell.

About this edition

• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1630478741
• ISBN 13: 9781630478742
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 162