Today is Lupus Awareness Day, and I'm asking you to take a few moments to check out But You Don't Look Sick, the blog by my dear friend and Avon team member Christine Miserandino. One of the most challenging aspects of chronic disease is the constant need to explain it… to doctors, family, friends and strangers who "don't get it."  Christine's manifesto, "The Spoon Theory" will help you understand what it's like to live with chronic illness.  More about Lupus below, for extra credit.

Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body. Chronic means that the signs and symptoms often last for many years. Autoimmune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between foreign invaders (germs, bacteria, viruses) and your body’s healthy tissues, so it creates antibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue, causing inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body.

Every day, more than 5 million people worldwide struggle with the often debilitating health consequences of lupus, a potentially fatal autoimmune disease capable of damaging virtually any part of the body, including the skin, heart, lungs, kidneys, and brain.