Power Stories - Lupus (SLE)

It all started innocently enough with a kidney infection. I had previously lost one kidney to severe infection at 17. But this kidney infection would not respond to anything…. I went into sepsis. Nothing was helping. Testing and investigation turned up that I had a primary immunodeficiency which was genetic. …

My name is Kayla, and I am 25-years-old. Around age 14, I was hospitalized for about a week with Meningitis. Ever since then, the fight with my body has been on. I constantly had all-over body pain and discomfort. I would have horrible headaches and be so tired that I …

I was diagnosed with arthritis at the age of 2 at SickKids Hospital. I had it tough because I always loved the outdoors, but sometimes I wasn’t able to even walk from the pain. When I was only in elementary school my face used to get this red rash which …

So Beautifully Broken Oh life, You have carved upon me, With pain as your brush, A canvas without mercy, The scars so ugly, At first. Time, Didn’t ease pain, Instead growing, Building tolerance, Bringing strength, From depths I never knew, Resided in me. Scars, No longer random, So densely meaningful, …

Despite being dealt a hand of lupus, ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis, I don’t see myself as a victim. Nor am I a winner or loser. I’m a warrior and survivor. I fight every day. I struggle and push myself to the very end of the fringe to accomplish things …

I was diagnosed with Lupus SLE in January 2016. I am nearing the end of year one, and and what a year it has been. Like most of you, I had been seeing doctors for over a year prior to being diagnosed. Test after test, lab after lab, and they …

My name is Jazmine. I live in Charlotte, NC, and I have been diagnosed with Lupus SLE. I am 22-years-old, and I was diagnosed with Lupus at the age of 21 in July 2015. My mother was diagnosed with Lupus SLE 10 years prior to my diagnosis, so when I …

I’ve been living with Lupus (SLE) since 2004. I am 42. I am lucky that my journey with Lupus has been mildly uncomplicated. What I’d like to share is the hidden monster within, in the hope of sparing others the pain I’m enduring today. This last year, I had the gastric sleeve …

I was 16 when I got diagnosed with lupus. I had been sick for a few days, but we figured it was just my nervous stomach. Then I started vomiting, and I couldn’t keep anything down. We battled with the ER a lot. We went to Riley Hospital for Children to …

I was diagnosed with having lupus almost 3 years ago. I am now almost 60 and was told by one rheumatologist that this type of illness often goes into remission the older you get, but I’m still waiting! I also have Sjogren’s and possibly an overlap issue with MCTD, though that …