Howling Wolves: Living with Lupus

What starts as a trifle in the summer of 1997, turns into a bad dream six months later. Nele Caeyers is 22 years old and newly married when she first hears about lupus. In Howling Wolves she describes how this strange disease turns her life upside down. She listens in disbelief to the astonishing truth about this unknown connective tissue disease. She undergoes various tests and ends up in hospital several times. Together with her husband she sees her desire to have children fall apart.

Although feelings of anger and helplessness often take over, Nele still strongly believes in the future. Full of courage, she undergoes multiple therapies and eventually even dares to become pregnant.

Lupus is a systemic disease that can affect the entire body and drastically limits daily life. Yet, on the outside, nothing is often visible. Lupus patients often encounter a wall of incomprehension. This book is recognizable for many chronically ill people, but also gives people in their environment, doctors and nurses a better insight into living with this condition.