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Before I was diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) at age 19, I was ready to conquer the world. After the diagnosis, I just wanted to conquer the condition. At first, I was extremely focused on finding out everything I could about GPA. Every detail, every bit of information, and…

After being diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis, I felt like life as I knew it was over, and a new reality was emerging. When I was diagnosed, I was a 19-year-old sophomore in college. I missed the last half of fall semester, and it was possible that I would…

When I began college in the fall of 2000, I expected it to be similar to what my siblings had experienced or what I had seen on TV: making friends, having fun, enjoying a massive amount of freedom, and even going to class. I didn’t expect to fight an illness…

I was in a hospital room, dazed and confused. A doctor had sent me there after a chaotic trip to the emergency room. The first nurse to treat me said I had a hemoglobin level of 3.8 deciliters. My resting heart rate was 140 beats per minute, and when I…

My long journey began in Virginia in 2001 at 18. I was in college at the time, and two friends and I decided to go on a trip during a three-day weekend in the spring. We stayed at my friend’s house, and I remember very clearly getting a pain in…