Dad, Lupus and Aging
My father had lupus, a serious and complex autoimmune disease that attacks the tissues and organs. The inflammation caused by lupus can affect one’s joints, muscles, skin, kidneys, blood cells, heart, brain and lungs. Unknown to me at the time, while I was in a hospital giving birth to my daughter, Dad was on his death bed in a hospital three hundred miles away. Fortunately, he responded remarkably well to drug therapy and lived a reasonably normal life.
Six years later, a few days before my sister’s wedding, Dad became extremely sick. Refusing to see a doctor, he attended the church service. Although he adamantly resisted, I insisted on driving him to Emergency before going to the reception.
Dad was in his mid-sixties at the time. Still strikingly attractive, he looked as though he was in his early fifties. When we arrived at the hospital, he was immediately given a bed. What happened next shocked me. In a matter of seconds, my father suddenly looked like a frail old man in his mid-nineties who was about to meet his death.
I stood there in disbelief, unable to move or breathe. My father suddenly looked like a frail ninety-year-old who was about to meet his death. When the nurse approached me with questions, I raised my hand and shook my head, indicating that I needed a moment. I knew if I uttered a sound, it would come out as quivering sobs.
A doctor examined my father and ordered several tests. Once the results were in, he told Dad that he had a serious case of pleurisy. Pleurisy is inflammation of the sheet-like layers that cover the lungs (the pleura). The most common symptom is chest pain when you breathe. Sometimes, you also feel pain in your shoulders. They were similar to the symptoms Dad had experienced when he was on his death bed with lupus.
As soon as Dad found out it wasn’t the lupus acting up and that he was not going to die, he got out of bed, and with a smile on his face, said, “Okay. Let’s get back to the wedding!” I was absolutely stunned as I stood there and witnessed my father’s face and whole demeanor revert back to looking thirty years younger! He literally transformed in front of my eyes.
Whenever I recall Dad’s remarkable aging and de-aging, I am reminded of the power of the mind and of the power of fear.
Blessings,
Hannelore
(The above picture is of my Dad on his way to the wedding.)
This piece is in my book, Prosperity & Miracles