One in one million. The odds were better that I would be struck by lightning than get diagnosed with Granulomatosis with polyangiitis at age thirteen. Lightning did not strike but I still spent five weeks in the hospital fighting for my life. Prior to my diagnosis, I was social, popular, happy, and my biggest worry was what book to read next. Without warning, that all changed, and my life was irrevocably altered. My body was at war with itself. I was swollen from steroids, and my hair started falling out from chemotherapy. Dizziness, headaches, and exhaustion are my constant companions. I was diagnosed with additional health conditions. I have more specialists and take more pills daily than my 82-year-old grandma. There are frequent doctor visits, tests, infusions, and treatments that will continue for the rest of my life. Due to my immunosuppression and the Covid19 pandemic, I endured two years of online schooling, made more difficult by “brain fog” and undiagnosed ADHD. School had once been easy, but suddenly I found myself struggling to understand concepts and retain information. Loneliness loomed as I slowly lost my friends. Rather than letting it consume me, I busied myself with a service project, making over four hundred blankets for the local children’s hospital. When I was finally healthy enough to attend school in-person, I was excited to rekindle friendships, as well as make new friends. Unfortunately, my peers ignored me, some even taunted me. Instead of letting the heartbreak consume me, I threw myself into another service project that raised over three thousand dollars for the children’s hospital. After enduring a year of soul-crushing loneliness, I decided to transfer schools, and I have yet to regret the decision. It would have been easy to become pessimistic and negative, but I chose to be positive. I have found joy in focusing on the good things in my life rather than the negative. There are days it is hard to find something to be positive about, but it is this positivity that allows me to keep moving forward. My experiences have taught me to have empathy for others. I am nicer to those around me and try to ensure others feel included. I understand the value of real friendship over fleeting popularity. I learned the value of true friendship and loyalty. I have grown to trust others again, and my love of school has returned. I found that serving others makes me genuinely happy, much happier than I was before my diagnosis. I have learned to advocate for my needs, education, health, and happiness. I now know I am strong enough to face whatever life throws at me. One of the greatest things I have gained from my challenges is a direction for my future. I have come to realize how fortunate I was in the healthcare I received, especially at the onset of my disease. Within the vasculitis community, other pediatric patients I have spoken with have not been as lucky with their level of care. My ultimate goal is to become a pediatric rheumatologist. I want to research new ways to treat autoimmune diseases, many currently do not have effective treatment options. I am in the process of completing a medical assistant certification course that will allow me to interact with patients while I obtain an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering. I have the passion, capability, and drive to achieve my goals. While I cannot change my diagnosis, I can use my experiences to bring a positive change to the world around me.

One in one million. The odds were better that I would be struck by lightning than get diagnosed with Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis at age thirteen. Lightning didn’t strike but I still spent five weeks in the hospital fighting for my life. Prior to my diagnosis, I was social, popular, happy, and my biggest worry was what book to read next. Without warning, that all changed, and my life was irrevocably altered. My body was at war with itself. I was swollen from steroids, and my hair started falling out from chemotherapy. Dizziness, headaches, and exhaustion are my constant companions. I have more specialists and take more pills daily than my 82-year-old grandma. There are frequent doctor visits, tests, infusions, and treatments that will continue for the rest of my life. Due to my immunosuppression (and Covid19), I endured several years of online schooling, which was made more difficult by “brain fog” and undiagnosed ADHD. School had once been easy, but suddenly I found myself struggling to understand concepts and retain information. Loneliness loomed as I slowly lost all my friends. Rather than letting it consume me, I busied myself with a service project, making over four hundred blankets for the local children’s hospital. When I was finally healthy enough to attend school in-person, I was excited to rekindle friendships, as well as make new friends. Unfortunately, my peers, even the ones I had known for a long time, ignored me. Instead of finding relief, school became another heavy burden, so I threw myself into another service project that raised over $3000 for the children’s hospital. After enduring soul-crushing loneliness for a year, I decided to transfer schools. This turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made. I learned the value of true friendship and loyalty. I have grown to trust others again, and my love of school has returned. Admittedly school life is not perfect, I have limited energy and must carefully pick which social activities I attend, but I find happiness in those activities. It would have been easy to let my autoimmune disease make me pessimistic and negative, but I choose to be positive. I have found joy in focusing on the good things in my life rather than the negative. I know life is not all glitter and unicorns; there are days it is hard to find something to be positive about, but my positivity allows me to keep moving forward. I now know I am strong enough to face whatever life throws at me. I have learned to advocate for my needs, education, health, and happiness; and have tried to encourage friends to fight for their needs. My experiences have taught me empathy for others. I am nicer to those around me and try to make sure others feel included. I understand the value of real friendship over fleeting popularity. I found that serving others makes me genuinely happy, much happier than I was before my diagnosis. One of the greatest things my autoimmune disease has shaped is my direction for the future and the passion to achieve those goals. I want to help change the lives of children who also have autoimmune diseases by becoming a pediatric rheumatologist. I know it is going to take years of hard work, but I have the fire, capability, and drive to achieve that dream. I can’t change my diagnosis, but I can use my experiences to bring a positive change to the world around me. Living with this disease has helped mold me into who I am, a warrior.

I have a rare autoimmune disease, and when I was diagnosed at 13 years old, I spent over a month at Primary Children's Hospital. While I was there, I received a fleece blanket that helped provide me with comfort. Even though my mom was able to be there with me for the duration of my stay, I still felt alone and terrified, but the blanket helped with those feelings. I knew there were kids in the hospital whose families couldn't constantly stay with them, and I couldn't even begin to imagine how alone and terrified those kids might feel. So, as soon as I was discharged from the hospital, I decided that I wanted to make and donate some fleece blankets to the hospital so other kids could feel some of this much needed comfort. I organized this project and spread the word of it throughout my community. I ended up receiving many donations that made the project possible. I also received help from many of my peers at school. At my school, students had the option to meet in a classroom at lunch and help cut and tie the fringe on the blankets. In under 6 months, I was able to deliver 406 fleece blankets to Primary Children's Hospital. I never imagined this project would end up as large as it did, but I'm extremely happy it was able to help so many young patients. I like to believe that this project helped so many children in the hospital feel comforted during a challenging time in their lives. This experience helped me realize how happy I am when I am helping other people. It also helped me see how communities can become united and generous when they see a need for something and have a way to help with this need. This also helped me to know that I want to work in healthcare in my future to continue helping others in ways that I can.