The Great Imitator
It was my senior year of high school when my life changed forever. Lupus, otherwise known as “The Great Imitator,” is an autoimmune disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks its own tissue and organs. While there are four types, I was diagnosed with systemic lupus which painfully attacks my body from the inside, out. While kids my age were out having fun with each other, I was in the bed unable to move. While they were preparing for the next chapter of their life, I was dreading what my life was going to become. I went from taking no medication to taking 20 pills a day, weighing 145lbs to 178lbs in a matter of weeks due to steroids, and I didn’t look or feel like myself going into what was supposed to be one of the greatest years of my life. I hated myself and I hated what my body was doing to me… I felt, for the first time in my life, hopeless.
My family was the only thing holding my head above water, and they really did the best they could to make me feel like I was stronger than this disease taking over my body but it was so hard for me to believe their encouraging words because none of them knew how I really felt. One day, my mom took me to a Foundation of Lupus event for people living with lupus and their families. I was reluctant to go because, I mean, I couldn’t understand how bringing me into a room with other sick people was going to make me feel better. However, this was nowhere near the case. I walked into this room with all of these genuinely happy people and for the first time it felt like I actually belonged there, like it was home. I learned so much and gained so much confidence through this one event that I was ready to let EVERYONE know what lupus was.
As I enter this new chapter of my life at Kennesaw State, I notice that there are no organizations for people living with lupus, or any autoimmune disease for that matter. Although autoimmune diseases are not visible to the naked eye, the effect they can have on one’s body physically and mentally is more apparent than ever for the person living with the disease. I would love to start a community for people that fight every day for their health like I do. From experience, I know for a fact that being surrounded by people who can relate to what you’re going through makes it so much easier. I want to build a community where we can learn from each other’s experiences and grow together while fighting to find a cure for these diseases that go unrecognized by the rest of the world every day.
While I don’t know what it will be called, or where to even start, I know that this is something that Kennesaw State is missing. We are bigger than our diseases and I want everyone to know that!
