A Letter from the President

Dear Friend,

Happy Halloween!

I hope this fun (and snowy!) day, finds you well and warm!

Last weekend, we hosted the 3rd Annual Rush Lupus Clinic & LSI Educational Event.  Thanks go out to our wonderful presenters, Dr. Nika, Dr. Jolly and Dr. Baxi and the entire Rush Lupus Clinic Team – including Dr. Sequeira.  The Rush lupus team is wonderful and we are always happy to partner with them.

This year, we also had a sponsor for the event, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals and we thank them for their support.

The presentations from the event are archived on our website here.

This month we also had our 13th Lupus Charity Runners team in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon!  We are always humbled by the commitment and dedication of our runners – many who have run multiple marathons for us!

If you’ve ever been interested in running a marathon, please consider joining Lupus Charity Runners.  We have a wonderful team and a wonderful program. We support you 100% just as our runners support the Illinois lupus community!

We currently have guaranteed spots in the 2020 Bank of America Chicago Marathon - contact mary@lupusil.org for more information.

Thanks to all of our runners who did an amazing job!  Every dollar raised goes towards our mission.  Thank you!

As we move towards the season of giving, we hope that you will remember us with your year end giving.  

Giving Tuesday (After Black Friday and Cyber Monday) kicks off our holiday campaign.  We are only able to continue our important work with your support.

Together we make a difference,

Mary Dollear

October 2019

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Past Educational Events
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We've Moved!

Our address is:
411 S. Wells St., Ste. 503
Chicago, IL 60607

RUSH Lupus Clinic & LSI Educational Event Wrap Up

LSI hosted the 3rd Annual Rush Lupus Clinic & LSI Educational Event on Saturday, October 26th.  The event included 3 presentations - the presentations are available on our website:

Lupus Nephritis: Diagnosis & Treatments
     Presented by Dr. Pravir Baxi
Understanding Plaquenil in the Treatment of Lupus
     Presented by Dr. Ailda Nika
Tired all the Time: Understanding Lupus & Fatigue
     Presented by Dr. Meenakshi Jolly

Thanks to our outstanding presenters and all of the participants.

And to Aurinia Pharmaceuticals for sponsoring the event and joining us for this terrific day!

The Learn Support Group: Road Trip

The LEARN @ Rush Lupus Support Group lead by LaShon, went to Vegas for a long weekend.  It was a great trip.  The group wore their purple/white  shirts with silver butterflies, and butterfly earrings too.  

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!  Thanks to LaShon and the other members of the support group, "Sin City" was met with some lupus warriors as well! 

Volunteer Spotlight: Courtny Wulf

Lupus warrior and 2019 Western Suburbs Lupus Walk Ambassador represented the lupus community at an educational event in San Diego.  Courtney participated in a panel discussion about her lupus journey and was also asked to be in a documentary film. 

Thank you, Courtney, for always making lupus awareness a priority!

Marathon

Thanks to our AMAZING Lupus Charity Runner team in the 2019 Bank of America Chicago Marathon! 

All of our runners had a reason for running for the LSI.  Read their reasons here. 

We are truly grateful for their hard work and determination.  Our 28 runners raised nearly $60,000 towards our mission.

Thank you!

Chicago Walk

500 people brought in nearly $100,000! Thanks to all of our amazing walkers and volunteers who made this day exceptional!

If you have any photos, please email them to mary@lupusil.org.  We'll post them to our sites and YOUR picture may be selected to promote next year's Walks!

Fatigue & Lupus

A major problem for people living with lupus is fatigue – chronic debilitating fatigue that significantly decreases quality of life and increases the risk of work disability.

How does someone manage fatigue?  Finding strategies that work for you and for lupus patients in general is the purpose of the Lupus Intervention Fatigue Trial (LIFT).  

RUSH Lupus Study
STUDY OF OMEGA-3 REPLACEMENT WITH KRILL OIL IN TREATMENT OF SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

The study is a 24 week randomized, double-blind controlled multicenter study followed by an open label extension treatment for another 24 weeks. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the correction of the omega-3 deficiency may reduce disease activity in SLE patients.

Lupus & Pregnancy

Lupus in pregnancy is a great question. Women with lupus thinking about having a baby will have additional concerns. The Lupus Community Navigator received a question about lupus and pregnancy and we reached out to Dr. Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, MD, DrPH, Solovy/Arthritis Research Society Research Professor at Northwestern Medicine to answer the questions.

We've Got Your Back!

Running the Chicago Marathon?  Join Lupus Charity Runners!  We have an outstanding program that gets you across the finish line WHILE raising awareness about lupus!  Find out more about our team by contacting Mary at mary@lupusil.org or call her at 312-542-0006.