My Lupus Story
Hello, I’m Aigner, and True Warriors was born from a journey I never expected to take.
I created True Warriors as a space for people living with lupus, autoimmune disease, and chronic illness to feel seen, supported, informed, and understood. But before it became a community, it started with my own story.
I was nineteen years old, trying to figure out what came next after high school.
At that point in my life, I felt healthy, active, and strong. I loved exercising, I had always been athletic, and I was the kind of person who was willing to push myself and take on a challenge. In eighth grade, I had even earned the title of “Strongest Girl.”
Chronic illness was nowhere on my radar.
But chest pain was not entirely new to me.
When I was a child, I would experience random episodes of chest pain. I was taken to my pediatrician multiple times, and each time, I was told that I was healthy. Because of that, I learned to believe that the pain was something I simply had to endure or that it was nothing serious.
As I got older, I started becoming more conscious of what seemed to trigger those episodes. I noticed that the pain often seemed to happen after I ate fast food, greasy foods, or certain heavier meals.
I didn’t know why. I didn’t have a diagnosis or an explanation for what my body was doing. I just knew there seemed to be a pattern.
So early on, I started cutting those foods out.
Looking back, that was one of my first experiences with learning to listen to my body. Long before I understood lupus, inflammation, or what was actually happening to me, I was already learning that certain choices could affect how I felt and that I needed to pay attention when my body was trying to tell me something.
Still, the chest pain didn’t completely disappear.
For years, I dealt with it whenever it happened. But over time, the episodes began happening more frequently, and the pain became more intense.
At nineteen while at work, another episode began.
This time, the pain was sharper and more painful than what I had experienced before. Every breath made it worse, and I could no longer ignore what was happening.
At first, I convinced myself it would pass. I thought maybe I had pulled something or that my body just needed time to recover. But the pain didn’t go away.
It continued for days.
Eventually, it became so intense that I told my grandmother what was happening. She encouraged me to go to the hospital, and although I was reluctant, I finally agreed.
That hospital visit changed my life.
I was diagnosed with pericarditis, inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart. After being monitored overnight and given medication for the pain, I went home thinking the worst was behind me.
I tried to return to normal.
Then, about a week later, I received a phone call from a doctor at the hospital.
During my visit, they had also tested me for lupus.
The test had come back positive.
At the time, I barely knew what lupus was.
I went for additional testing and immediately started searching for answers. I read about symptoms, complications, and what life with lupus could look like, but I struggled to connect what I was reading to myself.
I didn’t feel like the person being described.
Part of me simply did not want to believe it.
When the diagnosis was confirmed, my mind filled with questions.
How did this happen?
Was it hereditary?
Could I have caught it?
What would this mean for my future?
I had gone from being a young woman figuring out life to suddenly having to understand a disease I had never expected to become part of my story.
Acceptance did not happen overnight.
The years that followed came with setbacks, victories, fear, lessons, changes, and a lot of learning.
I learned how important it was to understand my body.
I learned to pay attention to my physical health and my mental health.
I learned that sometimes surviving the difficult days is an accomplishment by itself.
I learned that having the right information matters.
I learned that support matters.
And I learned how isolating chronic illness can feel when the people around you cannot fully understand what your body is going through.
After living with lupus for ten years, I realized that everything I had experienced could become something useful for someone else.
That realization became True Warriors.
I created this space because I wanted people living with chronic illness to have somewhere they could learn, connect, ask questions, share experiences, discover resources, and feel a little less alone in what they are facing.
True Warriors is not about pretending that every day is easy.
It is about learning how to keep moving through the days that are not.
It is about becoming more informed, more prepared, and more confident in advocating for yourself.
It is about celebrating the victories that other people may never understand.
And it is about building a community where warriors can support one another through the realities of living with lupus, autoimmune disease, and chronic illness.
My journey has included pain, uncertainty, growth, setbacks, strength, and lessons I never expected to learn.
True Warriors is what I decided to build from those experiences.
If you are newly diagnosed, still searching for answers, learning how to navigate your condition, or simply looking for people who understand, you have a place here.
You do not have to have everything figured out.
You can learn as you go.
You can ask questions.
You can have difficult days.
You can celebrate progress.
And you can continue becoming your own kind of warrior.
Welcome to True Warriors.
I’m glad you found us.
Your Journey Doesn't Have To Be Walked Alone
Living with lupus or chronic illness comes with questions, challenges, and days that are hard to explain. Join True Warriors for practical resources, personal stories, helpful tools, and encouragement from a community that understands.
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Arts of Aignerr is a creative brand inspired by my experiences living with lupus and chronic illness. Through original art and meaningful products, the brand reflects creativity, strength, self-expression, and the realities of living with chronic illness.
