Cheri Perron, a lupus sufferer, was a human resources manager with two young children when the first symptoms struck.
"I would have unexplained fevers, my joints ached, and it was difficult to get out of bed in the morning, difficult to move around," Cheri said.
Cheri didn't know what was wrong.
Neither did a string of doctors she went to.
"One doctor told me I had leukemia and sent me to an oncologist, another doctor told me to change jobs, because I was doing too much," Cheri said.
Finally, five years later, she learned it was lupus, a chronic disorder in which her immune system attacks her own body.
It can affect any part of the body, but often targets the skin, joints, blood, kidneys, and memory.
Cheri says few people understand what she goes through.
"'But you look good, you don't look like you're sick.' But my insides are at war with themselves," Cheri said.
She takes a host of medications, but they only control the symptoms of lupus and the side effects of those medications.
This summer, GlaxoSmithKline will ask the government to approve Benlysta, a drug aimed at the root of lupus, harmful antibodies called B-cells.
"It inhibits the stimulation of B-cells and in doing so, tones down the inflammatory process," rheumatologist Dr. Daniel Wallace said.
The intravenous drug would be the first medication specifically for lupus in half a century; it's the first hope many lupus patients have had in their lifetime.
"It would give so much to those of us who are living with lupus on a daily basis," Cheri said.
Advocates like Annette Myarick of the Lupus Foundation say it could be the first of many big steps.
"It's really going to open up the field to push other companies in the research and development areas," Myarick said.
That's the good news. The bad news is Benlysta could cost up to $20,000 a year.
Also, in tests, only a third of the patients responded to it, but those who did say it improved the quality of their lives.
