Hi, I'm 14 yrs old and my sister is 24. Today she came home from the docter's office. She was there because she has a few red little bumps on her hands. She had to take some blood tests and has to go back to the docters in 3 weeks. Her docter said that it may be lupus or some type of arthritis. I'm REALLY scared and so is she. We're not quite sure what to do. So I was wondering, what are syptoms of lupus and what are some things that you can do to prolong the extent of your life if you have it? And also are there some things that you should or shouldn't eat or do if you've been diagnosed with the disease?

Hi Limabean,
Welcome to the lupus board. First, I want to share with you that searching on this disease is VERY GOOD, because there is a lot of learning to be done if someone has lupus, BUT!!! there is a lot of scary MIS-information, too. There is even scary correct information- but those are worse case-studies or experiences. My research and my rheumatologist agrees, is that about 90% of the people who have lupus lead normal, active lifes without fear of their life being shortened. That's a big improvement over 15-20 yrs ago when 50% of the people were seriously ill or died within the 5 yrs after diagnosis. So, with tht warning given, let me move on to praising you for being such a supportive and caring sister. Any one of us would be thrilled to have a sis like you- willing to stand with her through the scary stuff of learning about this "stuff".
The best advice I can give you is to read everything under the lupus board. Read all our posts, cause we've written about what the symptoms are, what the tests mean.
Doctors often tell the patient what they want to "rule out"- and the patient gets scared to death thinking that they have something awful. The doctor wants to rule out, that is, eliminate the possibility of the most serious conditions and move on the the less serious- and more likely- problems. They ahve to do that for fear they'll overlook something bad and get sued. :-)
If what you sister has is red spots only, he may be trying to rule out discoid lupus- which is a different form of lupus and not the one that affects your organs. The doctor will probably get the blood tests back in 3-4 days and the numbers will rule-out some things so he'll have a better picture. In the mean time, read all you can and go to the sites we've posted in our discussions, then come back and we'll try to answer all your questions or direct you where you need to go. Let me know how I can help.
Jeri