Faces of Lupus - Meet Alexandra Cunningham

Alexandra Cunningham

The distinctive butterfly rash and joint pains first appeared on my face when I was 10 years old. My pain was attributed to the fact that I was an avid tennis player and because I was in the growing stages of my life. Soon, I began to have fevers that made me too tired to get out of bed thus preventing me from enjoying the active life of a child. My mother immediately knew something was wrong and took me to pediatrician who said I had lupus. That was the easy part. It took several years for my mother to find a pediatric rheumatologist who could confirm this diagnosis. In the meantime, I was put on high doses of steroids. When we finally found a pediatric rheumatologist in New York, miles away from my hometown of Florida, my kidneys were badly damaged and I was immediately put on Cytoxin.

Luckily, with the support of my family and my rheumatologist, my lupus has been under control for several years. I am fortunate to be attending graduate school at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. With the help of Dr. Sam Lim, who runs the Georgia Lupus Registry, and a Gina Finzi Memorial Student Summer Fellowship from the Lupus Foundation of America, I am hoping to help in the fight against lupus. Getting properly diagnosed is the first important step in combating lupus. Delayed diagnosis can lead to delayed treatment and poorer outcomes for patients. Thus, I believe further research is needed to identify barriers to lupus diagnosis.
 
My research will attempt to identify common obstacles that patients encounter when getting diagnosed with lupus. Both medical and social factors leading to delayed diagnosis will be examined. This research, with the cooperation of lupus patients throughout Atlanta, will hopefully help us understand the problems encountered in getting diagnosed with lupus. In the future, we hope this information will help guide lupus interventions so that patients can get diagnosed and treated quicker.

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