When the bell rang, chairs scraped and children rushed to leave. Yet Adaobi Ugochukwu sat at her desk, her eyes focused on the clock.
Tick-tock. Her body burned. Tick-tock. Her legs were locked.
She tried to stand in the empty classroom, but her 90-pound body was heavy.
She knew she had to move, or people would start to ask the questions she didn’t have answers for, or worse: They would bully her.
The 12-year-old slowly rose.
Then came the pain. She tried not to cry, but with each step she felt her bones grind together.
She didn’t know lupus was the mysterious sickness that coursed throughout her body until she was diagnosed at 15.
Ugochukwu, now 22, has systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease that can attack any part of the body and lead to swelling and tissue damage.
Pictured is Adaobi Ugochukwu, a 22-year-old UF biochemistry senior, who was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease, at age 15. Ugochukwu has partnered with the Lupus Foundation of America to create a support group for people living with Lupus in Gainesville.
According to the Lupus Foundation of America, she suffers along with 1.5 million people in the U.S. who have lupus.
To help others with similar struggles, Ugochukwu, a UF biochemistry senior, partnered with the Lupus Foundation of Florida to create a lupus support group in Gainesville.
The Lupus Foundation of Florida will host a seminar at UF Shands Cancer Hospital Auxiliary Conference Room from 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday. Ugochukwu will be part of a patient panel to discuss living with lupus.
The last time Gainesville had a lupus support group was five years ago, said Linda Ruescher, program director of the Lupus Foundation of Florida.
Ugochukwu waited several years to start the support group because of her health issues.
When she was a freshman, a massive flare occurred and sent her to the hospital. The disease attacked her legs and caused swelling and massive joint pain that led to pyoderma, which caused large ulcers.
“Once you’re ill and sick, you’re a prisoner in your own body,” she said.
It took special remicade infusions to help suppress the immune system before the pyoderma could be treated.
Each infusion cost about $10,000, and it was covered by Johnson and Johnson Patient Assistance Foundation. She took the infusions for about two years and is currently on oral medications to stop swelling and ease muscle and joint pain.
She thought of her little sister while she was treated for 14 weeks at Shands. She couldn’t leave Onyeka.
“My sister would just be broken,” she said she was thinking. “I have to get better — it wouldn’t be fair to Onyeka.”
Her dimpled baby-face hides the last 10 years of suffering.
“I can put on a smile when I’m going through pain,” she said.
For now she’s focusing on studying for the MCAT to work toward becoming a doctor, starting lupus research and leading the support group she hopes to get up and running in May — Lupus Awareness Month.
