Jhanika A. - Diagnosed at age 11

I was diagnosed when I was just 11 years old. Before that I had symptoms where I’d have a blue back when I entered the water, and I’d have ulcers in my mouth and behind my ears. I suddenly got very sick with lupus lesions. At the time, doctors were not sure what I had and mistakenly diagnosed me with chicken pox. I took preventions and got critically ill when they put me on steroids' which helped me get back on my feet.

I was fine by the passing years, as I reached 20, my body started to have complications. Recently, ten months back I lost my mother in front of my eyes, and since then my condition has been critical. Facing anxiety, depression, isolation, losing my personality, and grief all at once has activated my disease on and off. On some days when I'm happy I try to rebuild myself, but then on other days, I go low.

It's been a tough ride, eventually I am going to phase out of this phase but don't know how to cope when I'm mentally not okay. I reached out for help, but didn't have much success with that. I miss my mother, she used to take care of me and help me with my disease, but now doing everything alone is hard. I have had lupus for 14 years now, I try hard to live my life in the best possible way.