Shannon Boxx - Another inspirational story!

I had the pleasure of seeing Olympic soccer player (and fellow Notre Dame graduate) Shannon Boxx present an award at the Lupus Gala this past spring. Boy, did she look impressive up on that stage! She was in the best shape of anyone in the whole place - and it was so cool to know that despite lupus, she was and is an amazing athlete. What an inspiration!

My sister-in-law kindly forwarded me this interview with Shannon Boxx from CNN Health, and it's a great article. You can read the entire interview here, but I love the part about why she's recently come out about having lupus. She sets the bar for all of us - if SHE can get out there and talk openly about her disease, so can we!!

QUESTION: You've just begun to talk publicly about your battles with autoimmune disease. Why did you decide to start sharing your story?

BOXX: I kept my story a secret for a long time because I didn't want anyone to use it against me in my profession. As I am nearing the tail end of my career, I have realized it is a lot more important to use my voice to help bring awareness to lupus and Sjogren's.

It takes people an average of seven years to be diagnosed, and in that time period they could be doing more damage to their body. If I can help spread the word about what lupus or Sjogren's is and what the symptoms are, maybe I can help get people in to visit a doctor sooner.