Lupus Story: Male Lupus Warrior

Male Lupus Warrior’s Lupus Story

My name is Emmitt Henderson III, I am a Male Lupus Warrior Veteran since 1995. My story started in 1980 with Discoid Lupus that evolved to Nephritis and Systemic in 1995. In addition to Lupus and over 30 pills at a time, I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Lupus Flares were extreme, at 1 point, I was in the hospital every month, for a week, over a 1 year period.

I was on Chemo and Radiation treatments, I endured going through peritoneal dialysis till my Kidney Transplant, I suffered Heart failure, I was in a coma for over 3 weeks. Once I recovered from the coma, I went to rehab to relearn to use my limbs. From the trauma to my Heart, my Heart could not take another Flare, I went through a Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplant (a clinical trial) procedure to slow down my Lupus Aggression. Lupus done its damage, I had Avascular Necroses that caused my Rt Knee and Lt Shoulder to be replaced, I had damages to my hips and opposite joints. I went through Restricted Lung disease, and was on oxygen for a month, I had Liver Disease, Ulcers in my Esophagus, I had to eat from a tube for over a week, I endured Liver disease, a Stroke and had my Gall Bladder removed.

In 2019, I suffered from major migraines and brain lesions were found. There’s no diagnosis for this and It was labeled as Encephalopathy (a broad term for a brain disease) At this point I was taken out of work. Since this time, I decided to fulltime advocate for this disease that has debilitated me for half my life. I created my own organization called Male Lupus Warriors LLC in hopes of inspiring anyone with any disease that you can overcome the worse. Also, to let the community know that Men get Lupus too and to give Men that safe space to talk about their illness and how to strengthen their Mental Health. I am now building to create a Non-Profit from Male Lupus Warriors to help patients financially all over the world.