From the very beginning there was no doubt in my mind, I loved him and he loved me. I met Tom at school but at the beginning he didn't like me and I was pretty much into every other type of guy than him. If you didn't play guitar or rugby I wasn't interested. One night at a party we had a meaningful conversation, I told him that there's more to me than the party girl everyone knows - I had a lot of ambition and I was very head strong. I didn't know what love was because I stopped my emotions from going that far - I never stuck around for that connection, three months in and I'd usually trade up. That was until I met Tom.
We became friends at a time in my life when everything was falling apart, my dad had become seriously ill and my life changed forever. My dads illness had a significant impact on my life, terrified he'd die I worked harder at school, concentrated on myself and told no one. Except one day, my dad had just been put on life support and I just shut down. I was beside myself and then Tom approached me he noticed something was wrong and for the first time I spoke out. He said nothing other than a big hug - it was everything needed.
He will tell you I kissed him first, but really it was him. Either way I didn't care, he made me happy. On February 20th he asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes. And the rest is history. We've had a chaotic, memorable and loving seven years even more so since my diagnosis.
When I was admitted I didn't tell Tom. At the time I was told I would be out the next day so why worry him. That was until the doctors found I wasn't responding to medication, my temperature was soaring and my body was shutting down. The biggest shock in my life was when I was lying in the hospital bed and he turned around the corner. He visited every other day and was present when I was diagnosed. That moment was the hardest we'd every been through together. Tom's never had to face serious illnesses in his family like I have and at the beginning he didn't know how to respond. But he tried, first with food, helping me dress and conquering the outside world whilst dealing with a serious flare up. He attended my first attempt of a kidney biopsy and blood tests.
Don't get me wrong its not been as easy as it sounds, in fact it has been the most challenging time of our lives. We have both lost friends through this, those who are ignorant to my illness and severity of it. We battle dodgy looks when I use my blue badges and fight complications of lupus together. And those are just a few of the battles we've faced.
Yet I couldn't have done it without him - any of it, my degree, my internship in America or battling lupus. He's my complete rock. We live in the moment, and plans never change - we are saving for a house, going to Disney World in September and continue to plan our future.
Having lupus is living with a ticking time bomb but this will never stop us from doing what we know best - loving each other.
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