On Friday May 10th, I sat in the staffroom at work and as I scrolled down my Facebook feed I felt that familiar lump in my throat - something I get a lot these days, i'm such a cry baby - and began to well up as post after post from my friends and family appeared on the screen reiterating my update earlier in the day that it was world Lupus day. World Lupus Day is the one day a year that all of us 'lupies' around the globe unite with one conscious thought...... to annoy all you fit and healthy people and bombard our Facebook and twitter feeds with lupus facts, information, funny pictures, poems and yet more encouragement to take note of what we have have to deal with or even better, take a minute and have a quick read about it.
As I sat there on my coffee break halfway through the morning I was overwhelmed already by the response, re-sharing of this blog, comments showing their support and directions to the charity page. By 11am I had already seen 5 shares and reposts, that's 5 friends that had shared the information with between 100 - 500 of their own friends, that's 500 - 2500 that will have seen the word LUPUS in their newsfeed that day, 500 - 2500 people that could potentially have a look and see what it is, 500 - 2500 more people that will understand better how debilitating the disease is, 500 - 2500 more people who will care and know more about Lupus when perhaps they meet someone with the disease.
The point i'm trying to get across is that you may not think that your contribution of sharing or mentioning it would matter much, but actually you can see for yourself from the example above how many people you could reach.
Everyday we have to explain to somebody new what this illness is and how it affects us, everyday we are met with blank stares and expressions when you mention the word Lupus, everyday you get the distinct impression that people don't quite understand how serious it is just by telling them. I don't blame them, but perhaps they would understand more if they went away and read about it, for some strange reason there is something more believable about reading something in black and white than taking it at face value from someone you have spoken too.
I know at times to a lot of people i may sound repetitive, sometimes i can almost hear the eyes rolling in peoples head as i waffle on about Lupus yet again, but the reason is because there is always somebody who doesn't know yet. I can't impress on people enough how important awareness is, it's so easy to ignore the information or words in front of you and think 'it doesn't affect me or my family so why should i be interested?' I mean, we all have busy lives and our own problems don't we?
A survey conducted by the LFA (Lupus Foundation of America) of 1000 adults concluded that 62% of people had either only heard of the word LUPUS or had no knowledge of what it was at all and this is a country that is far more medically advanced in the treatment of lupus, lupus research and awareness, so can you imagine what results would be produced here in the UK?
When i first started in my new job, i filled in a medical declaration form to inform them of all the medication i receive, my medical history and how it could affect my employment. A few days into the role i was taken aside my regional manager who assured me she understood Lupus, the medications i have to take and asked my what she could do to help. This simple exchange of words blew me away, such a basic act from an almost stranger at that point, the fact they had taken a second just to say i understood, i know how bad it is, you don't have to explain - restored my faith that people can and will use an opportunity to learn.
Awareness is understanding, it's open mindedness and consideration of others, it makes us better friends, employers and colleagues. Just having that one piece of empathy and understanding or even just knowing that one fact when someone tells you something serious or important about themselves, can make their whole day.
If we could take anything away from May 10th, it should be that taking one minute out of your day to learn something new, could change someone else's day for the better. If we took that minute every week how many days could we change for people in the future?
