Walk for Lupus Now in Los Angeles

Today at 6:00 am my alarm goes off. Having only slept 3 hours total the night before, I am not in the best of moods. Why am I waking up so damn early on Saturday I wonder, then I remember. Of course! It's the day of the Lupus Walk! That thought somehow gives me the energy to get up and shower. I dress quickly and gobble down a bowlful of cereal even though I'm not hungry. I don't want to feel sick while we're at the walk. I was supposed to drive me and mom to the event which is at Exposition Park in Los Angeles, but I'm not feeling too great. I'm dizzy and light headed and so exhausted. Luckily the night before, a family friend had asked to join us and thankfully, she'll drive us there. The drive is not very long as we live only about a 15 minute drive from the park.

Arriving at the park, I expect to see more people there. Perhaps I am still early. I immediately see my friends and fellow Lupus Warriors from my support group, Familia Péepem, Andrea Carrion and Alma Calleros. They excitedly tell me that my face is everywhere. lol. Having participated in the Ad Council's Public Service Announcement, I did a commercial for them and also my picture was taken to be used in print ads. I had yet to see myself in a public setting, but suddenly there I was. It felt odd. I feel famous for a minute as I realize that other walkers there recognize me and that just makes me laugh. It's a strange feeling. After turning in my offline donations, I am pushed around the grassy area so that I could say hello to my friends and everyone else. A volunteer whose name I forgot is kind enough to do this for me. I feel bad that I forgot his name, but God knows who he is and I know he'll receive all the kindness he shared back a hundred times. Thank you Mr. Tall Man. I'm actually only able to say a quick hello to my support group before I am placed on the concrete sidewalk. Since I am on my wheelchair for the walk, this just makes sense. That way when the walk starts I will be ready to roll. The only thing that I don't like about that is that I am left by myself for the longest time. Martina Ortiz, my friend who usually does the walk with us hasn't arrived. My mom is sitting some yards away talking to our neighbor. I feel out of place and in the way. Then I see the smiling face of my new friend Ruth Harris. We met on the website www.wearelupus.org and we'd made plans to meet. Since she hadn't been feeling very good I thought she wouldn't be able to make it, but there she was! She's beautiful and so very sweet. She has three children, two of them joined us for the Walk along with her mother. It's so nice to be able to meet her. I know we'll be great friends.

When the walk starts I attempt to push myself in the chair and I do...for about 5 minutes. My right arm starts cramping and creating a lot of pain for me. My mom has to take over. In her words, that was what she was there for. I still feel like I'm a burden. I hate that. Between my mom and our ex-neighbor, we are able to finish most of the 1 mile route. Halfway through the route, Martina calls to say she has almost caught up to us. We'd done the Walk together since the beginning and I felt sad when I thought she wouldn't do it with us this year. I'm more than happy she was able to make it. We finish the mile together to the sounds of cheers from the volunteers. We take so many pictures! I love the memories and the pictures help when I forget things. I heard later that Top Model Mercedes Yvette had been there. She also fights Lupus daily. I have pictures of her with my friends Wendy Rodgers and Shammeer Jattir. I wish I had been able to meet her, but since I can't get on the grass without help, I am not able to. :( Overall, it was a great day. I saw my friends smiling and strong. My mom never lets me down. And I met some new people.

I love that my friends were were able to volunteer and help with the Walk stuff before we got there. Alma and Andrea and all the others...you all rock for being able to help out. We all appreciate your hard work. And CHRISTI! Christi Rauth organized the whole thing. Her mom has Lupus and she's been involved with the Los Angeles Walk since the beginning. Her energy and dedication really inspires me. I can never thank her enough, not just for the Walk, but for the countless times I e-mail her with a question and she responds almost immediately. We need more people like her helping us spread the word and looking for a cure.

I always wish that the Walk would get more exposure so that more people could attend and raise money for our cause. It's a very important cause not because we have Lupus, but because more people probably have Lupus but aren't aware of it and its symptoms so they're suffering and not knowing 'why' right now. I want the public to become more aware of Lupus. More people have Lupus than AIDS, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Sickle Cell Anemia, and Cystic Fibrosis combined! We need more people to be aware. We need more funds to help support the programs that help us. We need more funding for research. We need to find a cure. We fight Lupus daily. I want that fight to end with Lupus being knocked out for good.

I hope that next year the Walk can be a bigger success. I plan on joining the committee for the next Walk, but I had planned on joining this years committee and I was not able to. The flares prevented me from doing very much this year. Here's to hoping that next year is better and that more people will know about the Walk next year. Let's all do something to increase awareness. We can do it together.

I want to again, thank all of the wonderfully kind and generous individuals who donated time and money to our cause, the Lupus Foundation of America, to increase awareness for Lupus and funds for the programs that help Lupus patients. Your benevolence is appreciated by all Lupus patients, their families and their medical teams. With your help, one day we will find a cure. There is HOPE. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your concern and support. I would hug each and every one of you if I could! You're more appreciated than you could know.