“I don’t want to alarm you, but that rash is usually a sign of lupus.”
I didn’t know what lupus was, but suddenly the butterfly-shaped rash on my face gave me cause for concern. After undergoing tests from three different doctors, the results confirmed my physician’s fear: what I had thought was an allergic reaction to new makeup was actually a symptom of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disease that was causing chronic inflammatory destruction to my skin, joints, and kidneys. …
