Lupus is a mysterious disease. Some get by lightly while others get whammed. I was diagnosed with it in 1966 and again in 1976 as a different phase of it. In '76 it was sent into remission and I really have had no problems with it in the four decades since. So there is hope.

Zany Mouse (love your name!), roll with the punches, rest as much as you can, look for the tiniest glimmer of light- it will get bigger and brighter.

I think that a very important component of progress in combating this disease is trust in your physicians, if only because oneself is too exhausted to navigate on one's own. There is so much more known about Lupus these days than it was in my time with it. In the 70s I was told that there was only one hospital/teaching facility that devoted itself to it (in Colorado; I was in Oregon) while now there are whole bodies of information.