My name is Toya Terry. I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised there for a short period of time. I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in 1995, and then I moved to California. When I first moved to California, my diagnosis was changed to MCTD (mixed connective tissue disease). …
Read More »Hi, my name is Stacy Tann. This journey started for me in the year of 2012. I started out having bad headaches, sore muscles, mouth ulcers, extreme fatigue and major joint pain. After going to my primary care physician twice and having no clear vision of what was going on, …
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Growing up, I was very healthy. Then in 2004, I started getting ill and ended up in the hospital. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong. In 2007, at the age of 32, I ended up hospitalized because they thought I was having a heart attack. I passed out woke up to …
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In 2005, I was diagnosed with Brugada Syndrome, a heart disease that causes dysrhythmia. The doctor implanted a defibulator/pacemaker to help control the dysrhythmia. In 2008, I was diagnosed with lupus. Before my diagnoses, I experienced fatigue, joint pain, and pain in my spleen. My sister-in-laws’ wedding was coming up …
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Hi, I’m 22 years old, and I was diagnosed with lupus three years ago, around my 3rd year at university. It was around finals, and I was really stressed about my grades and maintaining a high GPA. Little did I know, my fate was about to change. I noticed some …
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Hello, my name is Jomayra. I’m 31 years old. My story with lupus began at the age of 25, after giving birth to my first child. I started noticing changes in my body, starting with my hands and feet. They would swell up and turn purple. My hair started falling out. …
Read More »This is the story of my journey with autoimmune illnesses. I was diagnosed with type one diabetes over 21 years ago, at the age of five. I adjusted fairly quickly and fairly easily to my new lifestyle, testing my blood sugar levels, moderating my diet and injecting myself with insulin …
Read More »Hello, my name is Maryam. I am almost 16 years old. It all started when I was 13 years old. The rash was the first sign. It was creepy, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. But it grew bigger, and suddenly it was also on my face. I went to a clinic, …
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Like many, my story begins with a series of symptoms that could be linked to a handful of average ailments: fatigue, body aches, swelling, and the occasional purple hands and feet. At 12 years old, your first instinct isn’t that you may be suffering from what would become a lifelong …
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Hi everyone, I’m Alice, and I am 16 years old. I was diagnosed at 13, halfway through my first year at high school. I had gone to the beach for a week prior to diagnosis and thought that my fatigue was due to the swimming and late nights with my …
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