Help Emily Overcome Lupus

I'm fundraising to help my young friend Emily recover her health so that she can continue pursuing her education toward a medical degree and continue the healthy, active life every young person deserves.

 

Emily is an extraordinary 20-year-old young woman who has been battling illness for the last 10 years. Despite frequent episodes of severe abdominal pain and nausea, she refused to let illness keep her from pursuing her goals. She participated in ROTC, she graduated high school with high honors, and she earned a coveted scholarship to help with college tuition.

 

Despite multiple doctor's appointments, lab tests, and imaging, the medical community could not diagnose Emily's condition for many years - until 2021, when she was finally diagnosed with Lupus. As a pediatrician, I know that this disease can be devastating, even life-threatening. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder, a disease that occurs when one’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. These attacks can affect many different body systems, including joints, kidneys, brain, heart, lungs, and the digestive system.

 

For Emily, Lupus primarily attacked her digestive system for the past 10 years, but now the attack has moved to her joints, causing such severe pain and swelling that she is now unable to walk, to write or type, or perform routine activities of daily living. Since January, she has been wheelchair bound and unable to use her hands for even basic tasks. For Emily, the worst part has been her inability to attend her college classes due to pain and limited mobility, which has led to the loss of her college scholarship. She feels as if Lupus is stealing her dream of becoming a doctor.

 

Lupus is a notoriously difficult disease to treat. Emily’s doctors have not found any medications that have relieved her symptoms. But there is hope: The Lupus Foundation of America reports that stem cell therapy is one of the most promising frontiers in Lupus research.

 

Emily has an opportunity to receive stem cell therapy for her Lupus, and her doctors feel very optimistic that it will help her recover her health and her mobility. But since this therapy is still in the research phase, insurance will not cover the cost, making it prohibitively expensive. The first round of stem cell therapy will cost Emily and her family $5000, which they do not have.

 

I have set the goal of this fundraising effort at $20,000 : $5000 to cover the cost of her first round of stem cell therapy, plus an additional $12,000 to help replace the lost scholarship funds so that Emily can return to college when she has recovered.

 

If you are able, please consider donating to help Emily recover her health and mobility, return to the pain-free and active life that every young person deserves, and pursue her dream of becoming a doctor so that she can help others lead the healthy lives they deserve.