Recently, a former Drumheller resident shared her inspirational story of battling a rare auto-immune disease with The Drumheller Mail.
Juanita Grande, 42, was born in Drumheller in 1970 to Sam and Doreen Grande. She was raised in Drumheller until 1978 at which time her family moved to Edmonton. Since then, she has lived in Vancouver, Japan, and now lives in Paris, France, working as a singer, songwriter, and voice-actress.
Her aunt and uncle, Deborah and Serafino, and cousin,Sean, still reside in the Valley.
On January 10, she was rushed to the emergency room with an alarming blood pressure of roughly 220/80. There it was discovered she was in acute renal (kidney) failure. She was then sent to a hospital specializing in Nephrology, where she stayed for two weeks connected to various intravenous solutions.
In intense pain, the days following were filled by ultrasounds, CT scans, MRI’s, and blood and urine tests. Eventually, it was determined she was suffering from microscopic polyangitis, a rare disease in which her capillaries were being attacked by her own immune system.
The disease can also target specific organs, such as the kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, sinuses, or teeth. In Grande’s case, her kidneys and joints were afflicted.
After her release from the hospital, she was given nine different medications per day, chemo therapy, and a restricted diet.
“I have to eat very specifically to offset the effects of the medication which means no salt, sugar, animal protein, saturated fat. Then I have to eat for renal health which is no potassium or phosphorous. There’s a plethora of things I cannot eat now,” said Grande. “It’s alright, because before I was a bit of a health nut. I didn’t have to make many changes.”
There is one item she misses more than anything else.
“I miss wine. I’m in France, come on. I haven’t touched it since New Year’s Eve, but it’ll come back. It’s just while I’m on chemo and heavy drugs, I want to give myself every chance to succeed,” said Grande.
Prior to her fateful visit to the emergency room, she had experienced joint pain and intense migraines for years, but various doctors had dismissed her symptoms as not being serious.
“The doctors didn’t take it seriously, because I was too young to have that much pain from osteoarthritis,” said Grande.
However, Grande has been making the most of her life since returning from the hospital. To share her experiences and help others, she started a blog, “Juan Day at a Time.” In it, she describes her hospitalization, day to day life, and even recipes for those with the same affliction. Since she started, she has collected over 2,500 followers.
“It’s doing pretty well. I’m getting more and more letters from people with the same disease asking how they can eat smarter and offset the effects of all the medications. By helping them, I’m also helping myself,” said Grande.
“I had never thought that anyone would want to read what I have to say. It’s weird, you never think that way until something big happens. Since the first post, it just took off."
Perhaps most importantly, through it all, she has remained positive.
“Everything is just serendipitously working out. Maybe it’s because I’m handling it in a positive way and when you do that things work themselves out,” said Grande. “I can’t believe it, my life has never been better. There are so many people coming back into my life. Since I’ve been sick, I’ve been getting letters from all over the world and even got one from someone I went to Kindergarten with. It’s been a soul-lifting experience.”
In the end, Grande has two pieces of advice for anyone.
“Second-guess your doctors. If you have any concerns, get a second opinion. That was my big lesson, because I could have saved myself renal failure if only the doctors I saw had listened to me,” said Grande. “Another one would be to put the right food in the tank, because that’s the first step in fighting anything. If you eat badly, you’re kicking yourself.”
To see her blog, click here.
