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When I’m in the depths of struggle, only the people closest to me know about it. I need to go through the hardship and come out on the other side before I’m comfortable writing about it or sharing it on social media. I need to prove to myself I can…

I’m sure you realize that someone who has been dubbed a “hurricane” is pretty unapologetic. Forces of nature sweep in, do what they do, and sweep out, never looking back. I was once a hurricane. Now I jokingly say I’ve gone from being a “Hurricane in Heels” to a “Tropical…

My lower legs currently are covered with red spots. It has been so hot that I’ve been wearing capri pants every day. The result is that my legs have gotten more sun exposure than usual. But instead of a nice golden tan, I have red spots. With lupus, I…

Three years ago, I embarked on a journey of knowledge and hard work that has taken me around the world. It changed my life, and I’d like to thank the academy and accept this award … wait, wait, wait! Lupus is not an award. It’s not the result of hard…

I’m an all-or-nothing kind of person. If you asked me to describe my life in one phrase, it’d be, “Go big or go home.” My dad instilled the idea in my sisters and me from a young age that if something is worth doing, then it’s not merely worth…

Love is a complicated subject when you’re chronically ill. When I was first diagnosed, I had a sense of shame and guilt. I felt I no longer qualified as a whole person, and I didn’t deserve love like everybody else.  If you’re chronically ill…

I’ve been collecting kitchen gadgets for the past few years: The largest food processor available. A heavy-duty stand mixer. Pampered Chef’s Rockcrok slow cooker. So you know I jumped on the pressure cooker craze, even before the Instant Pot became a thing. Now I have two of them: a…

I woke up this morning and had to talk myself out of bed. I prepared my laundry for pickup, but then needed to lie down to catch my breath. On some days, the mere act of sitting up has been a challenge. I remember moments of being a fitness competitor.

If you had the chance to sit down with yourself just after your diagnosis, what would you want to say? If you only had an hour, what wisdom would you impart? Would you warn of the grief and hardship ahead? Would you right the mistakes in your journey? Would…

I woke up this morning with a lot of things that needed to be done. By 2 p.m., only one thing had been checked off the list and I was sound asleep. The old me — the one before lupus came into my life — would never have stopped…