When I was a child I remember asking my mum whether she had seen anyone in the world who has “my type of Lupus.” I remember her shaking her head and looking quite sad. As I’ve grown older my fascination with the fact that I’ve only come in contact with one other person with the disease has not faded. Since Discoid lesions aren’t exactly something you see everyday, when people meet me for the first time they usually have a series of questions for me–which I am more than happy to address unless they display traits such as diarrhea of the mouth. If you start spewing out nonsense in an attempt to guess what happened to my face, I will not answer. I may roll my eyes and walk off unimpressed. Or, because I’m sometimes an evil little wench, I may lie and feed into whatever story you conjured up (I know it sounds mean, but it’s mostly* harmless). Here are some common questions along with the true answers.

• Discoid Lupus is NOT contagious. It’s not going to jump off my face and onto yours. Even though some folks act like it, but that’s an entirely separate post.
• Discoid lesions on my face are never painful and rarely change. Lesions on my scalp have had the tendency to make me cringe.
• Discoid Lupus is not a disability. Although if someone wanted to send me a check every month because he or she believed it is, I will not stop you. Message me for my full contact information.
• Discoid Lupus has an arch-enemy. *cue ominous music* Enter Sun. *ominous music fades*
• Discoid Lupus is pretty permanent. Unlike the butterfly rash that occurs in some people with Systemic Lupus, as far as I’ve experienced, Discoid Lesions are permanent. If not, someone or some Doctor has some serious explaining to do.

If you’re still itching to find out more about the different forms of Lupus, including Discoid, visit here.

*While it’s very rare I do this these days, I would be lying if I didn’t say the thought usually crosses my mind for maybe a split second before I decide to “be the bigger person.” Too bad there’s less gratification in doing so. 😉