Nico Kadimoke watches television Tuesday while sitting in his room at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. (Press-Citizen / Matthew Holst)

Yes, men have lupus too and this one is for my frat brothers with lupus. Nico Kadimoke (from Tanzania) played football for Wartburg College — I almost went there for journalism. His days were filled with football, practice, training, team meetings, etc. As a player, Kadimoke had no time to sit around and watch games, now he does.

This fall, Kadimoke has had more than enough time to sit around and watch the game he once played. At 22-years-old, a college graduate from Wartburg, Kadimoke was diagnosed with lupus when he awakened one day in August to swollen feet.

Kadimoke went to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics where doctors ordered blood and urine tests. Protein was found in his urine and this led them to do a kidney biopsy. About a month later, Kadimoke was diagnosed with lupus.

Fluid is “my downfall,” Kadimoke said. “It keeps me from doing a lot of things,” he said. “It just hurts when all the fluid goes down to my feet. It’s a gravity thing, which is kind of messed up,” he said. “Even walking sometimes gets tiring.” Darling, don’t I know it.

The article at Press-Citizen.com mentions he is on a 30-day treatment. I am going to assume he too is undergoing IV Cytoxan — chemotherapy — for his condition.

Kadimoke spends his time now keeping his feet elevated to prevent fluid from settling in his lower extremities. He has been in and out of the hospital and recently, December 18, he was readmitted.

You can read more about his story and how the diagnosis caught him off-guard at Press-Citizen.com. What I found incredibly interesting about Kadimoke’s story was the years he spent playing football in both high school and college. Either he had no symptoms during this time or he had symptoms he ignored for many years because, as an athlete, he learned how to push through them. It is also possible that while playing football and maintaining an healthy lifestyle, the lupus stayed in remission until he graduated, was no longer playing and BANG, the lupus raised its ugly head.

I do pray he gets through this horrible phase because it is horrible to have swollen extremities. Once the disease has been stabilized for him the discomfort should ease up a bit. There is hope, it just takes time. Much love to Nico Kadimoke.