PATIENT STORY

Heather

and Sharon Ward Lupus Story

Daughter and Mother

I was always sick when I was younger. The doctors told my mom that I might get asthma due to sinus issues. We moved to Las Vegas when I was 16. The doctors out there kept telling me there was nothing wrong with me. I felt like I was crazy. Dr. Shreck did a chest x-ray which found my thymus gland was big. I had my thymus removed in 2002. It was the size of a baseball. Thank God, it was not cancer.

The cancer doctor told me in 2008 that I needed to be tested for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis because a study showed that in 4-6 years, a person has either one or has one or the other. My thought was which one was worse? I looked them up because I didn’t know what they were.

In July of 2008, I was diagnosed with SLE (lupus). My son was five, and my daughter was not yet two. I followed up with my primary care doctor, and he referred me to a rheumatologist. That doctor wouldn’t help me. He said, “I never had a patient who had it due to surgery.” I yelled at him and went home crying. I didn’t want my children to grow up without a mom.

Due to this, and my Dad being sick, we came back to Ohio. I have an amazing team of doctors at University Hospitals of Cleveland. In 2011, I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, another autoimmune disease.

I keep fighting and advocating for everyone and myself. The best part is that I am reaching one of my goals and that is to see my daughter graduate, and I was able to see my son graduate. I have an amazing support team. My parents were always by my side; as well as my kids, boyfriend, and friends. Now, I am here to help my mom through this journey.

My journey with lupus is not like my daughter’s, Heather Ransom. I was never sick, other than colds, chicken pox, and having my tonsils removed. I married at the age of 20 and had two children and no miscarriages. I was, for the most part, healthy.

When I was 12, my Dad got sick. We discovered he had developed blood clots in 1965. Then in 1983, he developed high blood pressure and had a mild stroke. The high blood pressure damaged his kidneys. I helped my Mom take care of him until he passed away in 1988. Then my Mom got sick in 1992 with lung cancer. I took care of her until she died in 1994.

After this, my daughter Heather became sick. She had a growth the size of a baseball. It was her thymus gland. They took it out in 2002. About six years later, she was diagnosed with lupus and later on with MG (myasthenia gravis). I helped her as much as possible.

Then, in 2008, my husband got sick. For 15 years, I took care of him. In the end, he got cancer. The cancer was in his lungs, neck and spots in the kidneys. He died in 2023.

I was used to being a caregiver until I got sick around December, 2023. I could not walk without having a breathing problem.

We went to urgent care, and the doctor said to go to the ER. At the ER, the doctor said I had a blood clot in the left leg, and blood clots had broken off and were in both lungs. I was tested for lupus with the blood clots and I tested positive. This was February, 2024 at the age of 71.

I was not upset when I received the diagnosis. Most people like my daughter have been fighting this disease from a young age. I was healthy most of my life.

My heart goes out to all of the young warriors who have been fighting this terrible disease. Keep on fighting - a cure will come!