When you live with lupus, everything about you gets tested, physically and emotionally.  I can't tell you how many physical tests I've had through the last 4 years.  There were MRI's, PFT's, chest x-rays, echocardiograms, CT Scans, a thoracenthesis, a spinal tap, a heart catherization, and the never ending plethora of blood work. The list is never ending.  I felt like a human pin cushion!  The toll all the testing took on me through the years was immeasurable. I wasn't the same person I was before.  At times I couldn't walk, I had lost the majority of my hair because of a medication that was helping me with some of my other lupus symptoms, bedridden because of fevers...so many to count.

With all of that being said, I really have come a long way. I realized that all the testing was for the good of my health and I survived all of them. Today, I'm able to walk, I've tried a new hairstyle, and I'm slowly getting myself back to a life that is more manageable.  The process of getting back to good health takes time and a lot of patience. I try to remind myself of that everyday, especially when "weird" things are happening to my body.

Here are some common tests performed on Lupus patients:
* Chest x-ray
* CT Scans
* Echocardiograph
* Electrocardiogram (ECG)
* Electroencephalogram (EEG)
* Electromyogram (EMG)
* Lumbar Puncture (Spinal Tap)
* MRI
* Muscle Biopsy
* Pulmonary Funtion Test (PFT)