CityView Magazine

Photography by Anna Lester Stephanie, Shaina, Courtland, Brady and Kaylin Kennedy "We both know we're there for each other no matter what life throws at us." whose symptoms are often diagnosed as other ailments. It affects nearly 1.5 million Americans, 90 percent of whom are female. It is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, blood and kidneys. It is also referred to as "the invisible disease" because when a sufferer is not experiencing the symptoms, they do not appear sick. Begging to differ, Kennedy pulled open a tote bag brimming over with brown prescription medicine bottles that she divides up by morning and nighttime meds. After not being able to breathe following just five minutes of instructing aerobics, Kennedy knew it was time for another course of action. Those symptoms, combined with a new highdemand job involving trade shows and long hours, caused her to feel like her body was breaking down. Her white blood cell count and potassium were at an all-time low, putting her in the hospital for seven or eight days at a time. Between 2009 and now, she acquired four other autoimmune diseases, including candida from her esophageal tract down to her stomach for six months, which is common for lupus patients. Her esophagus was so inflamed she could only eat baby food for nine months before having a port installed in her upper arm. Her body was unable to digest food, preventing her from absorbing the nutrients she needed to gain weight. In 2010 Kennedy, who is 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighed 143 pounds. Nine months later she weighed just 85 pounds, with no explanation for why, even after numerous CT scans and tests, she had lost almost half her body weight. Later doctors would learn that Kennedy had a stomach full of blood and that she was not able to break down the food to absorb the calories and nutrients. Side effects of Kennedy's lupus include days when she is in so much pain she cannot get out of bed. Pausing to fight back her tears, she shared how much of her 5-year-old son's activities she has missed, such as his baseball games, and how strong his bond is with his daddy as a result. While she was very involved with her two now-teenaged daughters in the earlier days of her illness, her husband handles the day-to-day parenting for all of the children now. He gets them to school each morning, takes them to their weekly cheerleading and softball practices and travels for the tournaments, as well as running the household. But her kids don't see it that way. "I could never ask for a better understanding mother than her," said her daughter, 13-year-old Shaina Kennedy, a 7th grade student at Mac Williams Middle School. "She has always been the person I looked up to and who I always wanted to be like. She never gave up on me, no matter how hopeless I seemed. She molded me in to the person I am and I'm proud to be. I'm a cheerleader, on SGA, and Beta Club. She encourages me to be the best I can be. She never lets lupus stop her. Not then. Not now. Not ever." About 5 percent of the children born to individuals with lupus will develop the illness. Kennedy keeps a detailed journal for each child documenting headaches or other symptoms she has in hopes of helping them with early detection should the disease plague any of her children one day. Since 2010 her flare-ups occur once every two weeks and cause a painful red "butterfly rash" that spreads across her face like a mask. Jokingly calling herself the human barometer, Kennedy said she knows when the flare-ups are coming, just CityViewNC.com | 61

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