Are vampires still in style?

For the last few years vampires have been "in", but I must say, avoiding the sun is difficult unless you truly are sleeping during the daytime!  I know that with summertime comes the big photosensitivity (abnormal sensitivity to light) issue.  If you don't have Lupus or don't know much about it, 70-90 percent of people with Lupus are photosensitive and can only be in the sun for very short periods of time without a high SPF sunscreen and/or protective clothing.  Last summer I wasn't completely sure about the Lupus diagnosis and it really hadn't sunk in yet so I didn't protect myself like I have this year.  We had an above ground pool then and I would go swimming without worrying too much about photosensitivity (let's shorten this to photosens, ok?).  It was not that bad with at least an SPF 30 as long as I stayed cool in the water on my float.  Throughout the past year though, I have been getting more sensitive to the sun and heat.  I don't know which one affects me the most though.  It's a little like the whole "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" discussion.  I know that the heat is overwhelming here mostly because of the humidity.  Today there is a weather advisory warning the "normal people" to limit outside exposure.  So with Lupies I'm guessing we need to stay away from windows and wear an Spf 50 indoors just in case a ray of light gets into our home! Ha-ha, I'm joking --- kind of!  I don't take any chances.  My arms were just fine today until I opened the door for my doggies to go outside and sure enough I got a burn on my right arm.  I didn't have on sunscreen because I was indoors! Go figure.    There are some things I can do to prevent this.. but it's very time consuming. .  * post has been edited for privacy and legal reasons (my disability claim)*

Some people are more sun sensitive than others and I think that it depends on how advanced your disease is -- but don't quote me on that. It's dissapointing sometimes that I can't be in the sun as much or like I used to. I LIVE for the beach and crave it.  My friends and I used to joke about giving each other "a shot of the beach!"  We'd do a motion like we were giving each other a flu shot or something and say it was a shot of the beach.  Maybe it's because I'm a Pisces, which is the sign of the fish and a water sign, that I'm drawn to the ocean.  I have a Pisces and Cancer tattoo on the inside of my ankle.  (it's small.. i don't notice it until someone asks me about my "dollar sign tattoo")

See, doesn't it look like a $ sign?  It doesn't matter to me what anyone else thinks it is because I know what it means. Although, the people that think it's a dollar sign probably think I'm extremely shallow. lol

I hope everyone is having a great week.  To my fellow vampires, I hope you're feeling good! Be sure to rest and take care of yourself (sunscreen!).

P.S. This stuff rules