Perneita Farrar of Elkridge suffered from a paralyzing form of lupus in April 2005 that left her bedridden. She now hopes that she will be able to walk again. Here she stretches her leg with the help of Kristin Raymond. (Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam / December 8, 2009)

I have read many stories about people with lupus but never have I read one like Perneita Farrar’s. Farrar was diagnosed with lupus after back-to-back surgeries. The article in the Baltimore Sun states:

Diagnosed with the autoimmune disease in 1999, Farrar recalled going to the emergency room at Montgomery General Hospital with acute stomach pain one day in January 2004 and being told she needed emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding. After surgery, the pain persisted for months, and Farrar underwent a second surgery in August of that year to clean out some scar tissue.

“My body was not able to recover from back-to-back surgeries, and my immune system started to attack my body,” she said. “I started going downhill.”

Emphasis mine. Her body was unable to recover from back-to-back surgeries and thus, her immune system started attacking her body. I have heard of drug-induced lupus but not lupus caused by surgeries. Was it the stress brought on by the surgeries? I am beginning to believe all of our “burning the candles at both ends”, or “those who die with the most toys win”, or “I’ll have enough time to sleep when I die” thinkers might want to slow it down a bit, you might be blowing your adrenals as well.

Farrar ended up losing nearly 40 pounds, developed bladder problems, began falling in public places and in April 2005, she was found at her home “totally unresponsive.” She was taken to the hospital where she went into a coma and major organs failed. Two weeks later, when she awakened in the hospital, doctors told her she would never walk again because of the damage lupus had done to her spinal cord.

Today, after a good deal of hard work, Farrar can “use a walker to go more than 100 feet in a straight line with the help of custom-designed ankle foot orthoses,” which prevents her from dragging her toes. And here’s something else that is equally motivational:

Living on her own in a wheelchair-accessible townhouse in Elkridge, nearing completion of her master’s degree in education at her alma mater, Farrar said that George has told her that she has become a “poster child” for living productively with a lupus-related spinal cord injury known as transverse myelitis.

Love it!!! She is working hard and that “Type A” personality persists while still in a wheelchair. She’s not accepting defeat and I believe we must continue trying as long as there is breath in the body. I applaud her.

You can read more about Farrar’s uplifting story, “Trying to get back on her feet“, in the Baltimore Sun. This is one for the keepsake tray.