MarlaJan DeFusco BSN, RN, CPN, Lupus Health Activist, & Author, Luck Fupus Blog

MarlaJan DeFusco is a pediatric nurse with experience in surgery/trauma, apheresis, and cardiac intensive care. She has spent her entire life as a patient, diagnosed in infancy with a complex congenital heart defect which required four open-heart surgeries before the age of six, and continues with lifelong cardiac care. At age 26 she was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosous (SLE), and a number of overlapping autoimmune diseases, and was forced to give up her physically demanding nursing career due to SLE complications.  She started a blog, Luck Fupus (www.luckfupus.com), to cope with the day-to-day and long-term struggles of living with chronic illness.  Her writing speaks the truth, is raw, sarcastic and funny, she educates, and she’s not afraid to put herself out there. In 2014 she won the WEGO Health Hilarious Health Activist Blogger Award, and has been using that as a platform to promote lupus awareness and patient advocacy. She’s participated in a number of social media chats, and has been the patient voice, speaking at numerous conferences and round table events. She can be contacted at [email protected]

Twitter Handle: @marlajan
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/luckfupusblog

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