Meet Melissa

My name is Melissa Gotwalt, I’m a 48 yr old Mom of four from Manchester Pennsylvania. I have Lupus, RA and several other autoimmune disorders, but the Lupus by far has adversely affected my life the most. I found out I had lupus in 2006 after my first marriage dissolved and I started having strange symptoms that no one could explain. They tested for MS, my thyroid and others before they ever looked my immune system. 

One day I woke up to get ready for work and couldn’t walk. I had to crawl into the bathroom on my hands and knees then the same way into my young daughter’s bedroom to wake them for the day. I was a single mom at the time and my girls were very young. I made it to my doctor that day and he had labs drawn  because he felt it was something more going on than what they ever thought. The answer of RA came back first and it was a little while longer for the Lupus diagnosis. As I’m seronegative for all autoimmune disorders. I was put on high doses of steroids and so many different medications at the beginning  it was hard to keep track of what I was taking on a daily basis. 

The day I was finally allowed to go back to work after the initial flare I had a seizure and wrecked my car on the way to pick up my daughters. That is when we started looking at the other symptoms I was having as well. Lupus has affected every aspect of my life! I have had it affect my CNS, Cardiovascular System, my skin, hair, joints, kidneys, and liver. I have nodules on my thyroid and lung as well as Crohn’s Disease and Epilepsy. I also have nodules on my thyroid and lung.

It’s been an uphill battle but not one I fought alone! With the love of my family, husband, and many friends I’ve been able to get through some pretty bad health scares over the years. I think the scariest was the PE I had in 2014 by far. I was only married two years and now with a combined family we had four children. I was in the hospital with blood clots in my lung. Obviously the Epilepsy was very scary because when that was diagnosed I was still single lost my driver license and wrecked my car. Over the years we’ve had other health scares with COVID-19. I’ve had COVID a total of three times since April 2020! We keep holding onto the booster’s every five months, to keep myself safe as possible from COVID! 

Right now I find myself in an exciting time in my life, although I’ve NEVER had a full remission from anything I’m able to do much more than ever due to the support of my family and doctors. I find myself now looking to go back to work although remote due to my immune system I’m giving it shot for the first time 16 years. It’s exciting for me because all of our children are now out of the house and I can give myself something else to do now. Over the years I’ve always been advocate for Lupus. I talk about it to everyone. I try to educate educate educate. 

Recently, I was honored with title Mrs. York International. I’ll be competing in the Mrs. Pennsylvania International Pageant in March 2023.

Lupus Research and  Education is my platform. Lupus tried to ruin my life!  I fought with every fiber of my being to get where I’m at today knowing at any moment my health can change quickly!

This is my chance to use my voice and make difference  and for people to educated  about Lupus. Not just my story, NO. But all the Lupus Warrior's stories and how we need funding to continue research. Make trips to DC and talk with our elected officials and let them know we are here and we need their support! But most of all people need to see that even with a disease as bad as Lupus you can go on to GREAT things and work to make changes.