IN the last eight years Gemma Clarke has gone from being an active and healthy maths teacher to being confined to a bed in her living room next to her commode.

The mum-of-one is battling lupus, which has left her fighting chronic fatigue, having surgery on her weakened spine and a brain tumour develop.  It has also damaged her lungs and bowel and left her left leg paralysed.

An operation on her back last year left her with brain fluid leaking out of her spine and she contracted meningitis and fighting for her life.

Despite coping with all this Mrs Clarke shows no sign of self pity, just a wonderful sense of humour  - but admits she has her dark days.

She worries about the effect of her illness on her three-year-old son Gabriel and on the relationship with her war veteran husband Simon.

The couple were childhood sweethearts and the 34-year-old has now become her carer as well as working full time as a builder's merchant.

Mrs Clarke is confined to her bed in the living room and using a wheelchair. Each day she has to have a sponge bath and her dream is to have a downstairs room with an en-suite wet room so she can get her dignity back.

The couple from Schoolwaters, Dalton, have started crowdfunding to raise the £20,000 needed.

The St Bernard's Catholic High School maths teacher, who previously worked at Parkview and Furness Academy, explained how she was diagnosed with lupus in 2008.

The 30-year-old said: "Initially I was taken into hospital with a  suspected  stroke but was told it was a severe migraine and rhinitis.

"When the kids at school got coughs and colds I developed chest infections. This went on for some time and I would get horrendous headaches and I would have to leave work. I would lose vision in my right eye and my face would droop. Trying to teach algebra like that just became impossible. I would also get chest pains that would just see me drop to my knees."

After two years she was finally diagosed with lupus and started chemotherapy.

Mrs Clarke said: " I thought I would start the chemo in the school holidays and be fine to go back but I just spent six weeks hugging the toilet.

"I went back to work in the September and the school were amazing, really supportive. I was taking 40 pills a day and taking steroids. They gave me a downstairs classroom but my hands and knees started going and I was really struggling. It was affecting my lungs, bowel, joints and connective tissue. I also developed a benign brain tumour which is pressing on my pituitary gland and affects my hormones. It is right behind my eyes. It's caused me problems with my cognitive ability and I have had some phantom pregnancies as a result of it."

She explained how normal people have an immune system that will fight disease but with lupus its goes into overdrive and starts attacking any cells, good or bad. 

Mrs Clarke said: "It was safer for me to continue with chemotherapy during my pregnancy because otherwise the lupus could attack the baby's cells.

"I now spend most of my days asleep or at the hospital."

Her spine has started to deteriorate and she's had to have surgery with a cage and screws put in to help support it.

She added: "My three hour surgery ended up lasting nine and a half hours. I had three blood transfusions and I ended up with cerebral fluid leaking out after surgery."

Mrs Clarke now has a carer when her husband is at work and is confined to a bed in her front room.

Mr and Mrs Clarke are planning to build an extension so she can have some privacy and be able to shower but they are going to have to find £20,000 as they are not entitled to any help as they work.

Mrs Clarke  said: "I just want a small room. It doesn't even matter if it's a corridor as long as I can get a bed in and my wheelchair and I can roll right through into a wet room. At the moment I have no where to go when things get too much and I need to lie down in the quiet.

"I just want my dignity back. Having to use a sponge and a bucket to clean myself isn't helping and I keep picking up kidney infections as it's just not hygienic. It would massively improve my quality of life.

"Depression is part and parcel of lupus and something as simply as being able to shower and have my own space would just improve my quality of life.

"I don't like people visiting as I'm embarrassed about being in a bed in my living room with a commode next to me.  It would help enormously with my confidence.

"At the moment I'm stuck. Having lupus is like being set in cement. I used to be really active but now I can't be. Gabriel has never known any different but he's getting to an age now where he will realise I'm different. I also worry about what this is doing to Simon as it's a full time job looking after me.

"I know I have to live with this for life and I'm hoping things will improve as I'm having physio and they are looking at my spine again to see if anything else can be done.

"I can't thank the south Cumbria Lupus Group enough and I have made some great friends.

"I want to speak out about my condition as I'm not sure if people are aware of just how bad lupus is. There are a lot of people out there with it or know someone who is but you hear very little about it. I hope this raises awareness."

Help Gemma and Simon raise the money they need by clicking  here

Learn more about Lupus  here

To find Lupus north west support groups click  here