Arkansas mother living with lupus aims to raise awareness of the disease
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Shalonda Wells was diagnosed with lupus in her 40s after fighting the illness for over a decade. She’s now bringing awareness and advocating in the community about the symptoms and ways to beat it.
Shalonda Wells said her symptoms started at the age of 9, but at the time she had no clue what it was because it wasn’t talked about enough in the African American community.
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After being diagnosed at the age of 47, she later learned that both of her daughters had the illness. Now she’s on a mission to educate those fighting with it as well.
“As a child I can recall having symptoms of lupus such as the hives,” Wells said.
She is one out of 1.5 million Americans living with the illness, which inspired her to learn more about it.
“It affects people in different ways. My daughter’s lupus, my stepdaughter’s lupus, my lupus they are all different,” Wells said.
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Lupus is an autoimmune disease that attacks multiple parts of the body. Wells said one of her daughters’ brains was affected while the other suffered with her kidneys.
“My lupus affects my joints and my bones,” Wells said.
Now she has started a foundation called Crush Lupus, where she’s helped hundreds in the community learn how to maintain a healthy lifestyle while living with disease. The mission started after losing one of her daughters.
“Lupus affected her immune system and it broke down her immune system,” Wells said.
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She said the number one piece of advice is to get ahead of the disease.
“Once you find out that you may have lupus or you do have it the best thing to do is to get the right plan,” Wells said.
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