Jamie F. - Diagnosed at age 22

I officially began my arduous journey with SLE my last year of college in Arizona at age 22, when I was initially diagnosed near the time I discovered I was unexpectedly pregnant and was having strange symptoms for my age such as joint pains, fatigue and a loss of good blood flow to my fingertips. 

Following my diagnosis, I was immediately medicated and my symptoms seemed to get progressively worse year to year, so I connected with the Arizona Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America for emotional support. I continued to live as pain-free a life as I could while pursuing my own version of the American Dream as a budding Realtor & Educator until 2009 when I chose to move from AZ to Seoul, South Korea to teach English abroad for a company recommended to me by a friend of a friend. Sadly, my symptoms exacerbated unexpectedly and I felt the need to return to the USA for help from family and friends who lived in Florida. Within a few more months’ time, I was working full-time again when I had a sudden and severe pain in my abdomen and promptly went to my local FL emergency room where I had a seizure for the first time in my life while in the waiting room! 11 days later I awoke from a medically induced coma to being unable to move, walk or talk for several more weeks as my body had gone into multi-system organ failure as a result of a Ute pancreatitis caused by SLE. I lived 4 months inside the hospital ICU and was released to be cared for by my family once I had physically rehabilitated enough to climb a flight of stairs without assistance, but that was only the beginning of my years of recovery then ahead of me. 

Today, I consider myself a valiant LUPUS SURVIVOR, although I remain mentally and neurologically disabled from that frightful event in 2009. I continue to encourage and aim to empower every person I meet who struggles to battle their health ever since and give God the glory for how far I've come to date.