Tabitha Derryberry, 49, is no stranger to chronic medical conditions. She has lupus, an inflammatory disease in which the immune system attacks joints, organs, and the skin. And when she was 35, Derryberry learned that her kidneys were failing due to having Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the body’s cells.

Systemic lupus erythematosus, or simply lupus, is a disease that can damage any part of the body, including skin, joints, and organs, by causing the body’s natural defense system to attack healthy tissue. It is an autoimmune disease, meaning that the body’s immune system (which produces proteins called antibodies to fight off invaders such as […]