Like most people who live with a chronic illness and/or autoimmune disease, my story started long before I realized. Symptoms came and went throughout my life without any answers. I headed to nursing school during college and things really went south after I was hit by a truck. Well, actually run over while I was walking.

Yes, you read that correctly. Run over…at 50 mph.

I believe if I could survive that, there really isn’t much else life can throw at me that could get me down! Eventually I became a journalist, Mrs. New York USA Universal, and some other incredible things happened. You can read all the juicy details in my full story.

LupusChick is my baby (as I don’t have one yet in real life). A lot of effort goes into LC; like all areas of life for a chronic illness patient, things rarely go according to schedule. My days are quite fluid and revolve around my health. During treatment seasons, my full-time job is taking care of myself.

I’ve spent the past eight years as a freelance health, food, travel and fashion/beauty reporter for a number of media outlets, as my health allows. My last “official” full-time gig was as the Where the People Are reporter for Gannett (USA Today, Democrat & Chronicle and more). Learn more about my work at MarisaZeppieri.com.

Writing became an incredible outlet for me after my diagnosis in 2001. I was confined to a hospital, home bed and then a wheelchair and could not pursue my education/career as a nurse. My heart was broken, but writing allowed me to express myself and fulfill my desire to help others. It also opened doors for me to educate people on invisible illnesses that were not often discussed.

Helping people who were hurting was my inspiration. Before I began this endeavor, I had the opportunity to meet many people living with invisible illness through volunteering and being a board member for The Lupus Foundation of America, Florida Chapter. Social media and the Internet were very different 10+ years ago, and I believe there was a strong sense among chronic illness patients of feeling alone and somewhat abandoned. I wanted to create an outlet that connected, empowered, educated and loved on others.

I believe LupusChick turned out exactly how I envisioned it would.

My first teacher in terms of cooking was my grandmother, Rose. Picture a five-foot tall Italian woman who weighed 90 pounds soaking wet, and you can picture my grandmother. She was extremely soft-spoken (rare, for an Italian), yet could put the fear of God in you with her wooden spoon.

She stirred up my love for food and cooking, and several culinary programs refined my skills. Read more here.

If you are an LC fan, you are aware that I am obsessed with juicing. I was first turned onto it years ago when I was in a severe flare up that almost killed me. I was also wheelchair bound for the first time in my life and needed help bathing and feeding myself. It was a horrible season. Juicing was a key component in getting me out of the wheelchair.

I don’t juice for the sake of losing weight. And, I won’t tell you it will cure you. I use it as a supplement to my diet and for its multitude of benefits.

Read more about my Juicing Basics Class here.

LupusChick has a number of Ebooks available and new books are being produced all the time. A free Ebook regarding Juicing & Flares is available when you subscribe to our mailing list, and there is a free ebook in our shop on living well with a chronic illness.

My diet and exercise regimens have evolved since my diagnosis and are always being updated. Diets are different for each chronic illness patient and I don’t believe one diet works for everyone. In fact, I hate the word “diet.” In 15 years, I’ve tried hundreds of products and multiple therapies. Some worked, many didn’t.