Bakersfield.com

larger view

As you may have already seen in past newspapers and articles, my brave and miracle walking husband, James W. Nutt,  has been battling Lupus for 27 years now, and has been such an inspiration to all of us.

At the age of 20 years old, attending Bakersfield College, my husband was diagnosed with Lupus.  James was very active and was a Basketball Star at B.H.S., making All-Star every year and graduating in 1979.  Now, having been married for 25 years, having three daughters, Caprisha, 29, Tiffany, 21, and Jasmine 19, and also having four grandchildren, Lupus has always been something he has had to deal with most of his life.

James has been through so much and still keeps on fighting.  It gets tough sometimes but he never gives up. James had to retire after working 10 years at the Post Office nearly 20 years ago, when things got too hard for him.  He has had 2 hip replacements, an artificial knee, has been on dialysis for the past 2 years, and had a pacemaker  put in  2 years ago because his heart would stop beating at any time. The past few years have been tough for him.  Last October he had a kidney removed because of a tumor on it.  This past May, he had part of his colon removed because of an infection and now has a colostomy bag.  Three months after that, he had an abcess that burst by his colon and had to have another surgery.  Not to mention in the midst of all of this, his mother, passed away in April.

I see his hurt and pain and my heart goes out to him every day.  He has cried many tears and so have I, but our Faith in God keeps the family going.  He loves to build cabinets but has not been able to do so lately.  His sister is waiting to give him a kidney transplant, but until his colon heals and some lessions on his legs heal, he cannot have the kidney transplant.  Overall, he has been in and out of the hospital 50 times.  We thought we lost him a few times, but God said its not his time to go yet.  Wow, what a fighter!!!  We have been together forever and I will continue to be there for him.  Yes, it gets tough on me too, but I am so amazed and proud of him.  We build off each other's strength.  It has made us even closer than we were before.

We are not only husband and wife, but we are "Best Friends" as well.  We were high school sweethearts and have been together for 31 years now.  Sometimes he is in so much pain and discomfort but yet he keeps on going.  I know he feels like giving up sometimes but he doesn't.  Whenever I start complaining, I look at him and say "I have nothing to complain about."  One thing we have learned to do is lean on each other.  Sometimes, the people you think you can count on and should be there for you, aren't always going to be there. James has a long road ahead of him, but I encourage him everyday to hold his head up and keep on fighting.

  I hope this story is an inspiration for someone who is going through something similar if not the same thing.  We would say, don't give up, keep on trusting and believing God, and hang in there!!  I love you James, Love, your wife and best friend, Cheryl.....