Kristiana Page,  —

Kristiana Page is a passionate writer, jiujiteira, and lover of crunchy salt and vinegar chips. She lives in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. She was diagnosed with stage V lupus nephritis in 2016 at the age of 20. True to her personality, her writing is emotional, honest — sometimes blunt — and largely undeterred by what other people might think. For her, writing is equal parts therapy and the ultimate act of defiance against an invisible illness that thrived off her silence. She loves to use words to reduce stigma, shine a light on the realities of life with an invisible illness, and make the world feel a little smaller when it matters most.

Articles by Kristiana Page

Sometimes Life is About the Destination, Not the Journey

I’ve been blessed with many supportive souls since my lupus diagnosis, a few of whom also live with chronic illness. One of them, along with her partner, has taught me a most valuable lesson, by being my constant reminder that sometimes it’s not about leaps and bounds, but…

Dear Vegans, Please Don’t Preach to Me

Veganism is a popular topic of late and, while I have opinions, its nutritional merits are not what I want to write about. Rather, as someone who lives on a medical – read: necessary and involuntary – elimination diet, I wish to kindly ask the vegan community not…

Feeling ‘Super-Lupus’ Powerful at the Gym

Being diagnosed, I felt like the weight of the world got lifted off me. But slowly, as I began to understand more and more, I started to feel something else. I felt heavy and hopeless with my new lack of possibilities in life. Over the last month or…

Determined to Reclaim What Lupus Has Taken

There are plenty of things I dislike about lupus, and a few I’d go as far to say I hate. But the thing I hate most? It is how lupus is the only thing in my whole life that has made me feel truly uncomfortable in my own…

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Days with Lupus

I recall a time where there were only two types of days: Good ones and bad ones. Of late, there are all kinds of days broken down into little categories. While overall a day can be considered “good,” that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s been like that on every…

Lupus Freed Me to Become Fearless

It doesn’t matter when or where I tell someone I have lupus, the reaction is always the same. The person’s face will drop as they realize I’ve just shared with them that I have a illness I’ll live with forever. Cue the onset of sympathetic and pitied glances.