I brought Lupus to my campus today. I wanted to do this last year and it didn't work out. I set up my little table and had all my information ready to go. I was a little discouraged that I wasn't getting many people over to my table when I first set up my table. I was so happy when people would slow down when they read my sign and stopped to ask what it was. So many conversations today started with "I've heard of Lupus but I don't know what it is". Then there were those who came up and had family or friends who were diagnosed with lupus, or suspected they had it. I did my best to describe it to them because this was effecting someone they loved and cared about. It's really hard to explain lupus in all of its complexity in just a few minutes, but I think I did a pretty good job! One girl really broke my heart. She ran up excited to see my table. The first thing I asked was if she knew someone with lupus. She said her sister died last year. She went on to tell me she's going to be doing a Walk to End Lupus in the coming weeks and she really wanted to get more involved. We took a picture together (I was wearing my lupus gear) and sent it to her mom. Being able to explain lupus better to her and give her avenues to get even more information was really great for me. Her sister unfortunately fell into the group of people I'm fighting hardest for to be visible. She was diagnosed at 8 years old and died when she was 20. Stories like that break my heart more than anything. She said she'd love to try to start something on campus and I gave her my contact information. I really hope we can bring more lupus awareness to others on campus!
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