When Francine Houston's world turned upside down due to lupus and end-stage renal disease, she didn't just fight for survival—she thrived. Our latest conversation is a beacon of hope, showing us the strength of the human spirit through Francine's remarkable journey. Exuding resilience, she shares the profound role of faith and prayer in her life, offering a compelling testament to cherishing every moment and trusting in a higher purpose. Her story stands as an undying reminder to hold onto a positive outlook, even when facing the most daunting medical prognoses.
Francine's narrative doesn't stop at overcoming health challenges; it's a celebration of artistic evolution. Transitioning from graphic design to fashion, then finding her voice in poetry and writing, Francine embodies the spirit of transformation and expression. Her early frustration with fashion's status quo paved the way for a successful business in military jackets and corsets, while her passion for poetry gave her struggles a voice, leading to public performances and published works. Her tale is proof of the boundless potential within each of us to channel our battles into creativity and impact.
In a world where we often define ourselves by our hardships, Francine offers a refreshing perspective on self-identity and self-care. Her insights remind us of the importance of recognizing our true selves beyond our challenges and the value of a strong support system. From receiving accolades like the Excellence Award from Women of Distinction magazine to publishing a self-care guide, Francine's achievements are a beacon for anyone striving for greatness amidst adversity. Her life lessons and advocacy for staying teachable and encouraged are a heartfelt close to an episode filled with inspiration and affirmation.
When Francine Houston's world turned upside down due to lupus and end-stage renal disease, she didn't just fight for survival—she thrived. Our latest conversation is a beacon of hope, showing us the strength of the human spirit through Francine's remarkable journey. Exuding resilience, she shares the profound role of faith and prayer in her life, offering a compelling testament to cherishing every moment and trusting in a higher purpose. Her story stands as an undying reminder to hold onto a positive outlook, even when facing the most daunting medical prognoses.
Francine's narrative doesn't stop at overcoming health challenges; it's a celebration of artistic evolution. Transitioning from graphic design to fashion, then finding her voice in poetry and writing, Francine embodies the spirit of transformation and expression. Her early frustration with fashion's status quo paved the way for a successful business in military jackets and corsets, while her passion for poetry gave her struggles a voice, leading to public performances and published works. Her tale is proof of the boundless potential within each of us to channel our battles into creativity and impact.
In a world where we often define ourselves by our hardships, Francine offers a refreshing perspective on self-identity and self-care. Her insights remind us of the importance of recognizing our true selves beyond our challenges and the value of a strong support system. From receiving accolades like the Excellence Award from Women of Distinction magazine to publishing a self-care guide, Francine's achievements are a beacon for anyone striving for greatness amidst adversity. Her life lessons and advocacy for staying teachable and encouraged are a heartfelt close to an episode filled with inspiration and affirmation.
Good evening everyone, and welcome to Gentry's Journey. I'm your host, carolyn Coleman, and our honored guest today is Francine Houston. Francine Houston, I apologize, and we're going to go ahead and open up with an inspirational scripture. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who is the joy set before him, and doeth the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And that's from Hebrew 12, 1 and 2. So, francine, I'm so glad you could be with us today and I was looking over your bio and you do so many things. Yeah, I know. So a lupus survivor. You are a designer and you are an author. So please pick one and introduce yourself and tell us about you. I would definitely want to hear about everything you're doing the design and the books and the survivor. So let's get with it.
Speaker 2:My name is Francine Houston. I'm a l and the survivor, so let's get with it. My name is Francine Houston. I'm a lupus survivor. Got diagnosed at 18 in 1998. I survived various flare-ups. The most traumatic one is when I turned 34. No, when I was 34, I turned 35 and I had to be on dialysis and got diagnosed with end-stage renal disease. I got diagnosed with that at 34 and had to do dialysis for like five months. Now it's turning 35. And I didn't realize how severe that was, because it's like, if anything, is that failure? It's like you don't know how many years you're gonna live you know, I'm saying like I looked up heart failure.
Speaker 2:They said a person with heart failure could. The life expectancy is five to ten years, ten being greater. So you know, I was just praying for my life. Um, a minister came up to me and said I need to like stand on what king hezekiah said, like he got diagnosed with something or he was about to die. He asked god for 15 more years and I was basically where I was at at that point and then last year I got um, I had this bad flare up again.
Speaker 2:My kidney function started dropping from 60 like to 42 and they were concerned if I need to get back on this, the dialysis. But they did all these tests on me again. I had to go to the lab a couple of times. Then I had to do a kidney biopsy and they was like well, you out of you, out of in-stage renal disease. You got you not your kidneys are not feeling you out of that stage of your kidney and they just said you just got the regular type of lupus where it's just affecting your kidneys but not in the way it was affecting it before.
Speaker 2:And I was just like what? Because when I first got sick with lupus it wasn't as severe to that point where you know I'm about to die. But I was still like looking at, okay, what's my life expectancy for lupus, how long can I actually live, can? And they were like, oh, you can live a normal life, yada, yada, yada.
Speaker 2:And I'm like, okay, but um, it was to the point where people were dying and like he's, he, my doctor, was like people can die at 21, people can die at 25. And you know and I was just 18 because I got real sick and um, right after high school and landed straight into the hospital and he was. I don't think he was trying to threaten me, but he was just like you know, you better be trying to see if you can live for a couple more years. Basically that's what I felt like he was trying to get me to think about. So I started looking at the life expectancy and I just said, okay, if I can make the 25, okay if I can make the 35, and I'm like I have made it to 44. So I said when I hit 45 next year, I'm doing something big, because I couldn't do nothing big at 40 because we had pandemic or whatever so.
Speaker 2:I'm just like, I feel like I have to count my days.
Speaker 1:It seemed like with that okay, okay, but um, as you say, you are a survivor, um, you're no longer on dialysis, correct?
Speaker 2:yes, no longer on it okay and that's great.
Speaker 1:Um, so yeah, you are moving in the right direction and we all have to take life one day at a time, you know. But I do get the wanting to celebrate, you know, because what is the saying when we ask God for something, let's not forget to tell him thank you. Let's not forget to tell him thank you. You know, because you know man has their timeline, their timetables, their graphs, you know. But God has his own set of plans and they've already been predestined. But I do like that reference of Hezekiah and how he turned his face to the wall and prayed and got his additional. He got the 15 years that he asked for. So, so that's great. Now, what started you into the design? Designing?
Speaker 2:I could say. Well, even before I got sick with lupus, I used to be at home drawing all the time. I had an uncle named Arthur, but we called him Bud, and he used to be around the house drawing all the time. I had a uncle, um, named author, but we called him bud, and he used to be around the house drawing all the time because he used to come by my grandmother's house a lot, so I used to just sit there and watch him draw.
Speaker 2:And the next thing I know I'm trying to hear trying to draw bunnies and stuff like that. And then I started doing cross stitching, where you, I would get a physical like a pattern of a bunny and I'll try to sew it together to resemble a bunny. So I used to do that when I was little. And next thing I know, I got into more of the, the computer graphic design, before I got into fashion. It's just, I got to a point one year when um I was in um in graphic school, I learned how to knit. So I was knitting stuff and going to like when I was in Detroit where my sister used to go to the knitting classes, and then one day I just started complaining about pants and I was like, why are these pants so hot? Like what is going on? Like not so hot? It was so low, like the low rise pants. I did not, I cannot stand low rise pants.
Speaker 2:I always, for this day, I just buy me a rock, so whatever. So eventually I started gravitating towards it. It was like, even though I was in school for graphics, I was gravitating for fashion and I ended up getting a internship as a graphic designer in a fashion company and that's when they switched me to just not making a flyers and a business cards. It was like we want you to make the flats because we you know they kept on losing, like designers, to do the fashion part. I was just there doing graphics. Next thing, you know, they was showing me, illustrator, oh, how to design the flats for you know the specs, cause you, you got to do a tech pack, you know, for the people to go and make the clothes. And I was like, what is y'all doing? That's? I'm just here for gratitude. I'm supposed to be doing this fashion stuff, but I liked it, I gravitated for it, so I started learning the computer, part of of doing a design stuff for for the company and eventually, after I left that job, I felt I feel like God wanted me to go to to fashion school. And that's what I went to fashion school and I went there for two years. I was like what I was 26, like I got my. I got my graphic degree at 25.
Speaker 2:I went back to school at 26 to to do fashion design and I graduated at 28 and, um, I had an internship and the lady wanted me to knit. I knitted this vest and we put it inside the store and the time I graduated it was like very bad recession, very bad. So it was like I was surprised I had something in store or whatever. But during that time I was slowly trying to like build my businesses by the next year. I was slowly trying to build it and I ended up having started FH Designs at the age of 32. I found someone I was her intern again Ebony Well, she's not rolling, she's Moss now. She helped me build FH Designs and then for Scenic, after I graduated graphic school, ccs, I started Scenic Graphics. But now, 10 years later, I turned to Scenic Media because that's when I started doing the books and stuff.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you're still designing.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes, I am.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what do you specialize in? I know you talked about the cross-stitching, you talked about knitting. What do you? What's your specific design?
Speaker 2:um, I make jackets every day for the military, so it seemed like I'm faster at making the jackets than anything, even though I can't just sit here and just make jackets all day. You know, like that's what we do at work, like I've been working at an apparel manufacturing for the past like eight years it'd be nine years and um June, so I'm used to. Just, I didn't realize. I was like I wonder how long it take me to make a jacket. Like my cousin like challenged me. She was like you should, you should, just do a jacket line for a minute, because it seemed like you faster at that. It took me two days to make one jacket. Okay, and I was like man, if I could just keep on doing this, this could work or whatever.
Speaker 2:But at that time also, I didn't know I need to. I had to go back to the doctor and start getting my procreate injections because my iron got low. But just the fact that I could sit there and just do that. But I I'm trying to branch away and make other stuff, because somebody kind of challenged me. She wanted me to make a corset. I haven't made made a corset, I think, since 2015. So I'm sitting here and trying to. Right now I'm sitting here trying to put the garments in the back of the corset, so I think I specialize in jackets, but that's what I do every day at work.
Speaker 1:Okay, Okay, well, good, now, what put you on the path to writing? I see you've done three books. Well, I did more than three. Yes, because you, you, you're a poet as well. I was like man, she is everywhere I started I started as a poet.
Speaker 2:My first poem I went to this poetry club and my first poem, the first real poem I called it, was Funny how Things Change and that was about Lupus, because I could not write First. I couldn't write a poem to save my life. I said what? My sister was really good at it. My sister told me she is really good at poetry, but I don't know. I just jumped in the class because she was in there and they were just like you need to get serious. You really need to write about something that means something to you or something that is a little bit more serious than these silly poems you're writing right now. So I wrote about Funny how Things Changed. That was one of them and since then I write poems about. I wrote a poem called change because I wanted things around me to change. I wrote a poem um. I wrote a poem called the fight of my life. That was about me dealing with um being on dialysis and stuff and I was basically fighting to live. So I started writing more serious poems or just stuff that like made sense and I sometimes I go out to Totem Books with my cousin and we go out and do her. She do poetry too and we go read from our books and do our poetry. But I was just a poet.
Speaker 2:My mom was like, why don't you just write a book? Why don't you write about what you went through? I really didn't want to write about Lupin's journey. But I looked I said, well, maybe it's a book out here they talk about Lupin's journey. But I looked I said, well, maybe it's a book out here they talk about Lupin's. You know, talk about their journey.
Speaker 2:And at that time I couldn't find one. Now you go to the store you see everybody's telling their story. But at the time I was trying to tell it I couldn't find it anywhere. So it got to the point where my mom was challenging me, like why don't you just write the book? And was challenging me like why don't you just write the book? And I was like, but it took me 10 years to write the book because I was just, I was just sitting here, I. It was like I was getting bits and pieces of it. I was getting poet majority of that book, lupus journey is poetry because it's like I, I expressed myself through poetry. So I wrote poetry. But I wrote the story is written around the poetry, because the poetry kind of explained different parts of my life that I was going through like I did.
Speaker 2:One called I came a mighty long way and it was like my testimony of how I became Christian because I got saved at like 16 years old. Like my, my cousin became a Christian. My cousin, miranda, became a Christian in her 20s when she got ahold of me and my sister and started bringing us to church. Because I mean, I've been going to church before then but it's like when you go, when you little, you don't really comprehend what's going on. They don't mind if you fall asleep at church or whatever. You don't really know what's consciously going on. So when she started taking me to church, it was like I started wanting to develop a relationship with the lord myself, you know. So I mean we, we, that's when I started like learning to talk to god and, you know, walk with him and stuff like that. So basically I wrote a poem about funny, no, I came a mighty long way and it's just talk about, like my journey of becoming a christian okay okay, that sounds really good.
Speaker 2:Now what?
Speaker 1:year did you write that one? I came a mighty long way and it's just talk about like my journey of becoming a Christian. Okay, okay, that sounds really good.
Speaker 2:Now, what year did you write that one I wrote? Well, lupus Journey was. I came out in 2016. I don't remember what I wrote the poem to.
Speaker 1:No, that's fine, because I see where you had a magazine article when you were speaking about lupus, and that was in 2014.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I was trying to get the book out then, but that's when I ended up getting sick.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I had, like the magazine article. It had me and my sister Her name is Tina and we was at a fashion show. Her name is Tina and we was at a fashion show. That might have been the one that Shanice Jordan did, but I don't even know. They do fashion anymore but we was in this fashion show and that was like the Lupus magazine people, they wanted to see me with Lupus, they wanted to see what I do besides Lupus. It's like, okay, you have lupus, but what else are you doing with your life? Like they don't want that just to be the center of your life. Quote unquote. So I showed a picture of me actually doing something besides just dealing with lupus and that was me at a fashion show. But I was basically telling my story with that. But then I show you know, I put in a caption that that was me and my sister at a fashion show because I was trying to get her out there as a model. I mean my sister, usually in the background, she usually does hair and stuff, so I had her in the article. She's, you know just, but she always been my support this whole time when, well, now she has family of her own, but still that that article is basically explaining.
Speaker 2:I was trying to do stuff to lead up to the book for like years.
Speaker 2:I was trying to do social media, I was trying to do articles, I was trying to get you know, talk to all the different non-profits um, they deal with lupus but the year I was trying to publish it, I could not publish it.
Speaker 2:I was, I was stuck in a hospital, sure, and then 2015 2015 I was going to try to publish it, but I really was stuck in the hospital.
Speaker 2:I was on dialysis for like for like five months and I was thinking to myself I'm like, is it my mother that wanted me to publish this book, or was this God? It was just to the point where my cousin Miranda came back, because at that time I used to, I was away from her and I was serving at a different church, because the church I started was full of gospel with Pastor Wheeler, and I was at Word of Faith with Bishop Keith Butler, which I still go back there too. But I got so sick I had to literally to stay at home and and I went really much back to the first church I went to and I was back with Pastor Wheeler and back with his son, pastor James Wheeler Jr, and I was just getting the word from them and I was with House of Glory too, because I used to do that graphic flyer for them too, and they was constantly praying for me as well.
Speaker 1:But yeah, and that's great, but you were also on the cover in 2018. Discovering you.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's Dr T and Tony Coleman. I guess they just did that for me to get some publicity. I don't know. They was like we want you to get an article and write about what you do because you need to get some more customers. And I was like, ok.
Speaker 1:They just put me.
Speaker 2:I was in it for October. They put me on the cover.
Speaker 1:OK, Now it says your third book, Strength of a Woman. Tell us about that one.
Speaker 2:That one, it was just like I, like I had gotta. Somebody came up to me. It was like you are supposed to write a poetry book and I was like how in the heck they know this? They was like you better do your poetry book. But I did the lupus journey book and I had to do the second lupus journey book and I was like, okay, this third book is gonna be the poetry book. Because I said this man came up to me and said I was supposed to do this poetry book and he don't even know that I write poetry. So I was obedient and I published Strength of a Woman. I compiled all the poems I did from all them years I had it and I had some new poems and I compiled it in the book and I put it. I didn't know what to title this, but the main thing that I kept on, the main thing I kept on seeing, was health and I had to have my strength, but I was trying to emphasize that the Lord's my strength. But I just did strength for women because I'm a woman so and I wanted to break away from me being a disease.
Speaker 2:I don't want somebody to look at Francine and put lupus in the same sentence. That's what Francine has. Francine is a person. That's just at Francine and put lupus in the same sentence. That's what Francine has. Francine is a person. That's just what Francine is going through. So I'm trying to speak first person language out here to let people know like this may be what I'm going through, but this is me over here. That's just something I'm going through right now.
Speaker 1:I get that. I get that you want to be known for who you are. Yes, absolutely. Now you had in 2015, and I know we're going from you, know we're bouncing around on these years but an Excellence Award for Women of Distinction magazine. I mean, those are not items to sneeze at. Yeah, I mean, come on, celebrate, girl, celebrate.
Speaker 2:I don't even know how I got that one. It was like the lady reached out to me and I was just recovering from being off of dialysis. I was just trying to go back into what I was doing. I was still. You know, I just started working in apparel and I was going to do a fashion show.
Speaker 2:I think I did a fashion show with Kayla that year and this lady out of New York came out of nowhere and called me. It was like don't you want to be in our magazine? We'll help you. You know, we'll help you do the social media and blah, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, okay, you put that magazine, because every magazine you don't have to pay to be a part of. But she, you know, nowadays you have to pay. So I pay her to do my article. I didn't know I was supposed to get an award on top of that. She just called me I know where. I was like, well, you got an award for the women of excellence and you got two free tickets somewhere. And I'm like I'm thinking myself I should go off dialysis. I can't go nowhere right now. I was like maybe I'll go next year, you know. But I was just shocked and I was just like I, just you know because I consider that like a very hard battle that you know that I won, like I won, I'm still alive.
Speaker 2:So just to get that award. I was just really I felt honored. I was like well, laura, I went through a very traumatic you know part of my life and I just tried to, you know, go back into what I was doing and I get this award, so I was just happy about it.
Speaker 1:You should have been. I mean anytime, because that's something like you say you have to pay to be in the magazine, but when someone honors you with an award, you know that's a whole different ball game. That's something you've earned. You have truly, truly earned. So, yeah, that's nothing to sneeze about at all. Now your self-care. You published a self-care guide. Okay, now tell us about that self-care guide.
Speaker 2:The self-care guide. I basically was my, my homework. I had, um, I was seeing a therapist. I might as well put myself out there. Everybody you know like what's her name? Jackie Hill, perry. Prince and Perry talk about Jesus and Jesus and therapy. I started seeing a therapist, um, around this time I was um talking about self-care and she just said your homework assignment is to write about, is to write about self-care and write a plan out. And I was like what? So I was sitting there writing a plan out. I was like physical, emotional, mental, you know, spiritual, financial, like I was just every little, every little chapter. I wrote it and I'll just write down my plan. And somebody was like you should make that into a book. I was like so my homework assignment is my book now. So that's how it got posted.
Speaker 2:The next thing, I know this lady came out. I know where it was like we want to get the self-care plan, we want you to write, we want you to speak for the self-care panel. So I tried to hurry up. Well, I didn't hurry, hurry up. They told me it was in September. She told me like in May. So I compiled all my basically finished my homework assignment and try to have that available by the time I was speaking, even though at that time you didn't really have to have that stuff right there in front of you, sure, but but that compelled me to. After I got told I got to speak for a self-care panel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that that's awesome, you know so, you. You know you, when you talk, you'd be like, well, this is all I was trying to do and it ended up like this. But you know so, you know you, when you talk, you'd be like, well, this is all I was trying to do and it ended up like this. But you know. But you know, these are huge accolades that you have accomplished. You know whether you fell into it or somebody handed it to you or, like you say, the gentleman came up and say you need to write a book of poetry. Those are not just happenstances, they, you know thisances. This is your life, and sometimes we need that unction, we need that voice from the Lord to tell us what we need to do, and it may come from unknown places such as that. So one thing for sure you didn't cower in doing any of this, you just did it.
Speaker 1:As you say, at the time it wasn't 100%, but the honors and the recognition and the wins came. That's what I think people with any disease process needs to realize Don't be the disease. It's a part of you, but don't be it. Be who you are. Like you said, I want to be recognized for Francine, not for the lupus, you know. But this is still a great story for other people who are dealing with lupus at this time or who have family members dealing with lupus. I mean, you know, people have the affirmation cards and how they just speak life, you know, into themselves. Well, you're an affirmation. You're an affirmation. Yeah, I'm making jackets and the people that put me, they want me here, they want me there, and I'm like I'm sick, but you still. But you still move forward when you could yeah, okay so, and that is it.
Speaker 1:So, people. Their takeaway can be if Francine can do it, so can I, you know, so it is. It is quite all right now. I'm sure you had a support system when you were going through. So you named your cousins, your sisters, your mom. Uh, any additional support systems and what do people do to support you?
Speaker 2:well, um well, I can say my mother became my caregiver, sure? Um, even before I got on dialysis, when I was on dialysis, she was definitely the caregiver, even my. I had a cousin named darren before he moved down south. He was. He was telling me everything I need to know about that as well, beyond dialysis. Um, they all took turns taking me to the dialysis place when I was sick, like I had to be there at five o'clock in the morning. So I don't, I don't. We used to get up really early just to get there yeah and um, so they'll take turns.
Speaker 2:Maybe it was three times a week, so it was monday, wednesday, friday and they were all to take turns taking me there. Um, my brother used to take me places when I could go. My sister I, when I used to live with my sister Tammy she used to always try to help me out with health as well. Yeah, that's pretty much it. They always try to look out for me and my cousin Miranda always tried to look out for me too. Like I noticed last year, she really helped me out a lot and I was going through a lot because I was back on medications like heavy medications again. So I still it's like that support system came back and it's great to have it.
Speaker 1:Everyone does not have a support system. You know, a lot of times we take for granted that people have a support system, but everyone does not know they're out here basically kind of fighting whatever. They're going through alone. So it is great to have that, especially when people have your true best interests at heart, when they're speaking life into you. That's what we all need, don't you agree? Yes, I agree.
Speaker 2:We all need don't you agree?
Speaker 1:yes, I agree, okay. So what advice would you give someone who has been newly diagnosed or is going um through their lupus journey at this point in time?
Speaker 2:um, it's life after it, like it's not yo, it's not a death system if you actually take care of yourself, like really really take care of yourself. I had to learn just the hard way, because sometimes I have this thing where I think I'm invincible and I can just do everything you can't do everything in one day just to learn how to like simplify your life and really take care of yourself. Because when I first got diagnosed, I was like I wonder, do people live? How long do they live? You know, I was. I had like a million questions in my head and I had a coach.
Speaker 2:Um, even then, well, she wasn't my coach, she was a coach for the varsity basketball, but she found out I had lupus. She came and helped me out, and it wasn't my coach, she was a coach for the varsity basketball, but she found out I had lupus. She came and helped me out and it wasn't so scary. So I had somebody who'd been there already before me and she was trying to say well, you can live past this. I'm still here, you know. I'm still alive. I don't even know how old she was at that time.
Speaker 2:But she was like I'm still here. I'm still here, so you know you can make it past this and like not to live in fear either, because that fear, the fear of anything, it seems like whatever you fear comes upon you Like at one time I was fearing death, so bad it was almost coming upon me. I had to get away from that fear and just really operate faith and believe that I can still be here. Just, I mean, I would tell them that it is it's life past this.
Speaker 1:Well, fear can be consuming and it is negative. So when you have that negativity, you can't have positivity in. So, yes, having a therapist and a support system to help navigate you through, because you're still the one going through it. So you need those things and those people in places to encourage you. I just do not care for people, what we're going to call them.
Speaker 1:Debbie Downers, you know the negative, the negative, nancy, that's always a bad sign and you'd be like, where is this coming from? But you can't receive it. You just can't receive it. And I don't know if they mean to be that way, but I hear it because I am in health care and I'll be like why are you so negative? Everything is negative. Everything can't be negative. Everything is negative. Everything can't be negative.
Speaker 1:It may not look the best at this point in time, but there's always something good that can come out of this, even if somebody else who is struggling with something decides I'm going to take action and be the best person I can be.
Speaker 1:I'm going to be more compliant with my medications, I'm going to seek a healthier lifestyle. You know, just that's what we need to focus on, not the negativity, because we see what we have at hand and there's a process to it. All you know and you've been through the process, you know. So you know how to handle yourself, you know how to care for yourself and I have found, when there are the, you have two groups of patients those that are compliant and those that aren't. That's just it and the ones who are not compliant. You're going to see them time and time and time again and they have this attitude that they're doing you, the healthcare provider, a favor by coming in. No, that's not how it works. That's not how you get well. When you're not adhering to your medication regimen, your diet regimen, exercise regimen, when you're not trying to help yourself, what do you expect?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you have you have to help yourself, you know, and you need positive people around you who are going to speak life into you. And you mentioned the churches where you have been a part of and the ministers that you have been a part of, you know. So those people were praying for you, you know, praying for you.
Speaker 2:They came to the hospitals too. All of them did, and, like Word of Faith is in Southfield, so they came all the way to Flint. Apostle Johnson and his wife came to the hospital. I don't I'm trying to remember if Pastor Will or James came, but either. I saw them after. But it was like so many people came to visit me while I was sick and my family kept on popping up, it's like my sister. My sister dropped me off at the kidney doctor that's how it started. But then my uncle and my auntie, they drove me to McLaren and then after that, after they found out I was in a hospital, all of them came. It's like I woke up and it all was just sitting around my bed, so it was like people was there.
Speaker 1:And that's great. That is absolutely great. Now, when it comes to therapies, are you having any therapies now? Are you out of a flare? When was the last time you had a flare?
Speaker 2:I had a flare last I'd say two years ago, I am it was December of 2022. And then that um, that next year I was on 90 milligrams of steroids for 90 days and that's the next book, called Seeking you Shall Find. Because I didn't want to write about it. I was like this ain't no big deal. I have flares every now and then, but for me to have this flare up and get out of end stage brain disease, I considered that the big thing.
Speaker 2:So everybody I was like you should write about that for a scene. And everybody was like, yeah, write a third book. And so everybody I was like you should write about that front scene. Everybody was like, yeah, write a third book. And I'm like, write a third book. I'm like, ain't these two books enough? No, write a third book about Lucius. And I'm like, oh, so I started writing it. But they wanted like it started off as a story. And now it's like we like you doing the, but I started doing critiques of me doing the um, of me doing the journal writing. They liked it, they really liked it. So well, that's great, that's good.
Speaker 1:And what is the name? What is the title?
Speaker 2:again please, um, it's called speaking you, so fine um I gotta, I gotta, finish getting the edit.
Speaker 2:I gotta go talk to my editor to make sure he's editing it right now. But my, my cousin gave me that title because her book is based off of scripture too. So she was like it sounds like you're looking for answers and it sounds like you, you know. So I was just like this is gonna be a whole nother type of title. So that's how the title came seeking you should find, because I was really looking for answers. Really, when I say I was looking at all type of books about lupus, I was just like I just wanted, I just wanted to get better, and it was just like the doctors only gave me so much information. I wanted to find out more. But now, um, my cousin, my other, my guy cousin, his name is Ben Mance he told me about this doctor. Her name is Dr Jill, she's in Davidson and she's been answering a lot of my questions. Oh, that's great, but still it's like I feel always looking for answers. She was not a empathic doctor, but she was. She's been answering a lot of questions.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:Well, that's great, that's really good, I mean, especially when someone is answering your question and you're satisfied with the answers. That is reassuring, that can be reassuring. So, yeah, you want someone who you can speak with, speak openly with, and they will, in return, give you honest answers, you know, or tell you about the statistics, or this is the treatment plan, this is what you know you need to look out for. They give you guidelines, and it's guidelines where you can hear and receive and you have to be your own advocate. Yes, you have to, because if you fail at being your own, exactly so, we have the book coming you're designing jackets.
Speaker 1:What else is on the horizon for Francine?
Speaker 2:I'm trying to think. I got a fashion show coming up with two of them. Somehow I got two fashion shows in the same month. A book show coming up with two of them Somehow I got two fashion shows in the same month. A book is coming out. I'm supposed to be doing some stuff for my job, that's all I know. I'm a self-advocate at my job and they want us to tell our stories on there too, so I've been trying to go out and make sure I tell my story to everybody. So everybody just knows.
Speaker 1:Okay. Do you have a website, Francine? You want to give us that?
Speaker 2:FrancineHoustoncom. You can just see it on Amazon because I got to put the rest of the books on there.
Speaker 1:What else would you like for the audience to know about Francine? We've learned a lot.
Speaker 2:What are we going to do with family? I am the second eldest on my mother's side. I am the like smack in the middle with my dad, because my dad has 13 kids. I think I am number seven. Yeah, number seven. I'm number two on my mom's side and I'm an auntie. I don't know what else to say.
Speaker 1:I'm a designer and I'm always trying to be teachable and that is wonderful, because a lot of people think they know it all. So I always tell the physicians when we're discussing something, they were like, well, oh, carolyn had to take too long. I was like, no, I'm always in an in a position to be educated, I'm always teachable, and and they're like, oh, okay, and then they want you know, they tell you, they tell you more, and but that's what it should be. And they're not just about healthcare, but whatever industry you're in, you should always be in a position where you're teachable, because nobody knows at all. Or you, hey, because if they do, they have surrounded themselves with people who know, who have the answer. But the more knowledge you have, the better you are. So I think that is a great position to put yourself in Now.
Speaker 1:Thank you again for coming on Gentry's journey. We're going to just close out with a short prayer. Lord God, we just thank you for Francine. We thank you for her healing. Lord God, lord, we thank you for her ministry. We thank you for her ability to design, to put on these fashion shows, to write her books, to do her poetry. Lord, these and other things we ask you, o Son Jesus.
Speaker 2:Just pray for my family, Because my mother is dealing with not feeling well, my auntie is dealing with heart failure and just you know. Just pray in general for my family and myself.
Speaker 1:Will do. Lord God, we just thank you for Francine. We thank you for her life. Lord God, we thank you for her testimony. We thank you for her willingness to share her story. Lord God, we ask you to continue to bless her in her endeavors and bless her family. Keep us all encouraged. We thank you for Jesus. We celebrate Resurrection Sunday. On tomorrow. We thank you for Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, who died so that we may live. Lord God, we just thank you. We love you. These and other things we ask in your son, jesus' name. Amen.