[L-I] Cornered: My very mysterious disease

 Friday, October 17 is the anniversary of my killing the huge coming-of-age
bear on the eastern slope of the vast Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Area in
Northern Arizona -- more than 50 years ago.

This last Friday, 10/17, one of my doctors, the region's top person in
cancer and blood work, looked at me and said twice:  "You have no cancer and
no infections. " [The very recent Cat Scan had produced zero -- like the
bone marrow and other tests.]

What I do have, we learned Friday, is a variant of Lupus -- a strange
disease  of murky origins which can have one or two related dimensions:
skin lupus which I have via an extraordinary rash -- and the much deeper
systemic lupus which can be deadly [which I also have in force.].   This was
determined through some very interesting medical detective work in which I
was privileged to be a part.  [I should add that my 22 year old [half
Mississippi Choctaw] grandson, Thomas, [ a son in every sense from his
babyhood onward] ,a senior pre med student at ISU ,was present for all tests
and discussions and everything else, He and our other children contributed a
good deal -- as  certainly did Eldri..

I have each of these Lupus dimensions and will for the rest of my
life..There is tough fighting ahead but I will of course fight on--
always -- and will make it and effectively,  However, Lupus is treatable.

My editor son, Peter, upon learning Friday of this Lupus revelation, sent
very helpful medical material to me,  Here are just a very few excerpts:

What Is Lupus? [excerpted by H]

"Lupus is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakes the
body's connective tissue for a foreign invader and attacks it. There are
times when the disease gets better and times when it gets worse. Some people
with lupus suffer only minor inconvenience. Others suffer lifelong
disability.

Lupus affects people of African, Asian, or Native American descent three
times as often as it affects whites. Nine out of 10 lupus patients are
women. The disease usually strikes between age 20 and 35.

There are two kinds of lupus: discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) and systemic
lupus erythematosus (SLE). [Note by Hunterbear:  As I have indicated,I have
both of these.]

Lupus can be deadly. If you think you may have lupus, you must see a doctor.
Treatment is much more successful if begun early and followed faithfully. "

Again, our family is extremely appreciative of the flood of supportive notes
and phone calls.

Nialetch/Onen -

Hunter Gray  [Hunterbear]  Micmac / St Francis Abenaki/ St Regis Mohawk

Solidarity  / CCDS / SPUSA /DSA
www.hunterbear.org
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´
and Ohkwari'


In our Gray Hole, the ghosts often dance in the junipers and sage, on the
game trails, in the tributary canyons with the thick red maples, and on the
high windy ridges -- and they dance from within the very essence of our own
inner being. They do this especially when the bright night moon shines down
on the clean white snow that covers the valley and its surroundings.  Then
it is as bright as day -- but in an always soft and mysterious and
remembering way. [Hunterbear]



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