Reina R. – Diagnosed at age 16

My lupus symptoms began with muscle aches, and my fingers and toes were swollen to the point where I couldn't walk well or stand for long. I also had to cut my hair because it got a knot that I couldn't comb.

My symptoms got worse, but to be honest, I didn't put so much importance on it at first. There was a day when I bled from the mouth, so we decided to go to the hospital where I stayed for 2 months and a week. When I arrived, they did tests and took me to a room where they diagnosed me with lupus (systemic lupus erythematous), but when I was waiting for the other results, I got worse because I vomited more blood and they had to intubate me. From that moment they put me to sleep and I don't remember anything. But my mom told me that they had a machine where they took my blood out of my body to clean it, and with that same machine, they put the clean blood back into my body. When I woke up again, I couldn't physically eat anything because my stomach had only received serum, medication and food through a tube for a month. And when I ate through my mouth again, everything made me sick and I vomited it up. I had about 3 or 4 bronchoscopies and I had something that counts red blood cells or something like that… They explained to me that was the last thing they did to me at the hospital until the day they discharged me. I came home after two months.  

This all happened from January 14 until March 20. Now I am in treatment. I take 11 pills a day, and I feel very good with my treatment thanks to my doctor who also has lupus. Everything for me has been a bit easy on the subject because of the care I received.