Living (or not) with lupus

Lupus seems so much worse during winter. The cold temperatures really mess with my joints, causing more pain than during the warm, humid summers. This makes living a "normal" life during the winter months very difficult. Things that other people dread but still do (e.g., going outside to scrape the ice off the car windshield) can cause me so much pain that I'm basically immobilized for the remainder of the day. In the winter, I have to be more careful about planning and juggling things.

I know that doing certain outdoor activities will render me useless for several hours, if not days. So, while I plan to go ice skating with my husband tomorrow night, I know I should keep my Saturday clear so I can recover. I also know that I should do some work (I'm way behind on writing articles) before we leave to skate, since I won't be able to type after being in the cold.

Because of lupus, I have mixed thoughts and feelings about winter. I want a good long freeze to kill the eggs of the bugs that will invade my very organic garden this summer. But I don't want to feel the freeze myself. I long for summer, when I can feel a little more normal.