About Me

I am a wife of the Number 1 Filipino Blogger from Leyte, a mother of two sons, and a Public School teacher, and finally a blogger too.  I call my self a "Lupus Fighter" or "Lupus Warrior," because I am currently fighting Lupus to survive.

The "Lupus Fighter" (me)
and the "Care Giver" (my Husband)

I am Mrs. Junith Reytas Malot-Laplana of Hinunangan, Southern Leyte, Philippines. I was diagnosed of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) which is popularly known as Lupus, on July 15, 2016. After a year of taking high dosage of immune-suppressant drugs, I was considered at that time at remission stage. However, on July 15, 2018 or exactly 2 years after I was first diagnosed of having Lupus, I was again brought to the hospital due to pneumonia with flared-up Lupus (now Class-5 Lupus). In order to save my kidneys, lungs and heart, and to avoid the possible seizure (in short, to save my life), the Lupus activities should be controlled or suppressed. So, I underwent 3 sessions of Methylprednisolone Pulse Therapy while being administered with Hydrocortisone injection and also taking high dosage of Prednisone, Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate, and Mycophenolate Mofetil. After the said first Pulse Therapy with Methyl Prednisolone drug, I also underwent 6 sessions of Cyclophosphamide (chemotherapy) Pulse Therapy. And currently, I am still taking high dosage of immune-suppressant drugs such as the Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate, Mycophenolate Mofetil, and Prednisone.

Although, I was diagnosed of the said illness only in 2016, but I already had noticed its symptoms after the birth of my first child, which I thought were just different illnesses. I was having ankle problem, which was diagnosed by my doctor as arthritis. I also had the skin rashes, which the doctor said it was an allergy. And after the birth of my second child, I also had blisters in my body, which my doctor said it was German-measles. But before these mentioned symptoms showed, I was already anemic for a long time, I think, since my High School days.

The diagnosis that led to Lupus started with the diagnose of Nephritis on January 6, 2016 when I was confined in a local hospital after suffering internal abdominal pain. I received shots of antibiotic drugs for a week that had no effect on my supposed Nephritis illness. Then, through the doctor's recommendation, I underwent ultrasound test of my kidneys that led to the diagnosis, upgrading Nephritis to Nephrotic Syndrome.

In order to counter the effect of Nephrotic Syndrome illness in my kidneys, I underwent Corticostoroidal Therapy taking high dosage of Prednisone starting on January 20, 2016. On March 2016, I started to taper my Prednisone intake (based on the doctor's recommendation), because it was shown in the laboratory result that everything was normal again.

However, in July 15, 2016, I was ill again and those three illnesses that I mentioned above (the arthritis, skin rashes,and blisters) had manifested at the same time which led the doctor to suspect that my real illness was not just a nephrotic syndrome but SLE. And the doctor was right because after several laboratory tests, ECG, and XRay tests, the diagnosis was upgraded from Nephrotic Syndrome to Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).

Anyway, you can check my Facebook profile here and my husband's too. Our son "CJ" has his own Facebook account too (here).

If you want to share your blessing to me as your support to my fight against Lupus to survive, you can check the Donate page of this blog (here).

Thank you very much.