Robert M. - Diagnosed Age 26

I was constantly going to the emergency room for aching pains – chest pains, muscle and joint pains. My liver was infected, I couldn’t sleep, and eating hurt my stomach. I was miserable and no one knew why. Eventually after a bunch of blood tests an ANA test was done and that’s when the culprit lupus showed up.

Finding the balance of medications to help with pain was a nightmare. Today I try to work and do everything I used to do but it doesn’t always work that way. Some days I get severe pain in my chest (pericarditis) and my legs and hips ache – my back as well. The constant worry of – is something else going to happen?

When I speak to people they generally have no idea what lupus is or how serious it is. They don’t see it as a serious disease until it’s too late. It shouldn’t be that way. Lupus can affect everyone differently, but EVERYONE deserves to be treated! So I hope to become an advocate and help with this. I’ve seen cases way worse than mine and for that I want to get the message out there that it’s time for lupus to become a front running concern and not just the disease that no one has knowledge on.