On The Horizon

I have been living with Hansen's disease for the past seven years and couldn't help feeling that my life was at a stand still. I kept wondering when my life would begin again. I had already been through the process of denial and feeling sorry for myself, and was now prepared to let myself come alive again.

Early last year I found out that I was pregnant and was overjoyed. I saw this as an opportunity to have a normal life again. Hansen's disease was not going to control me any more. I focused on using my network of friends to learn all I could about being pregnant while having Hansen's disease. I notified my physician of my pregnancy and was switched to safer medications that were harmless to the baby. I found out that reactions or flare ups usually occur the months following birth, and this is when physicians are most concerned for their patients.

My family and friends were very supportive of my pregnancy, although some were concerned about my health. To quench my thirst for knowledge I read books about pregnancy and what was to come. I didn't want to be unprepared or scared about something that was such a natural part of life. I now had a new focus in my life, putting my Hansen's disease on the back burner, but of course still taking my medications.

My pregnancy was normal and everyone who saw me while I was pregnant, said I looked great, healthy, and full of energy. Two days before my due date, my ob/gyn ordered my induction, because a routine visit to him showed that my blood pressure was elevated. I had my son, Aaron Charles Holmes, two days later on my due date of September 24, 2003.

My son is now nine months and a bundle of joy and vigorous activity. Motherhood is difficult as I expected, but it warms my heart every time my son calls me "Arbree," which I've come to learn is his name for me. I am pregnant with my second child and as I wait to see this new addition to my family, I can't help but be thankful for everything I have been through. I don't think I would change anything that has happened to me so far.

By Nicole. H. Holmes,
Support Group Coordinator

What would you think if I told you that you have leprosy?," the doctor asked me. It was such a strange idea that I just laughed out loud. "It's not a laughing matter," the doctor scolded me. Several doctors, including a neurologist, had diagnosed the red blotches on my skin and the numbness in my feet. They tried treatments for allergy and for herpes, but nothing helped. Finally, this young dermatologist figured it out, and her diagnosis was confirmed by the lab reports. I'm sure grateful for her skill.

It's such an unusual disease in our area that they brought in other doctors to look at me and they took oodoodles of pictures of me, from every angle. They started me on the Three Drug Therapy right away, and the disease seems to be under control. Since that time, in September, 2002, the numbness has increased somewhat in my feet and legs, but most of the time I can ignore it. It has hardly ever kept me from sleep. I do have to be careful when I walk, though, because my sense of balance is affected. Driving is okay--if the car slows down, I know I'm on the brake, and if it speeds up, it's the gas pedal! I burned my foot with a heating pad, and it took almost a year to heal. But I'm glad that otherwise my hands and feet are okay and I've had no eye problems.

When I started to tell my grandchildren about my illness, my son objected. He feared they might be ostracized by the other children. But I countered that it is our duty to help overcome the ignorance that people have about Hansen's disease. We need to help people change their attitude towards those who have this sickness. We can help educate them that it's really not very contagious and it is treatable.

I am the only one in my family who has it. I have shared freely with people that I have this disease, and I've been encouraged by their reactions. The people in my church have been very supportive and accepting. (Maybe it helps that the head of the American Leprosy Mission is a member of our church!) I have no idea how I contracted the disease--maybe it happened years ago when we lived in the Philippines for a while. But regardless of where or how, I can rest assured that it is a part of God's plan for my life, and He will somehow cause it to be a blessing in the end. One benefit is that it helps me to understand, even in a small way, and helps me to remember, how thousands of people are suffering in other parts of the world.

By Roger W. Johnson