5. Kristen Johnston
When she was 46, Kristen Johnston was diagnosed with lupus myelitis, a rare form of lupus which affects the spinal cord. Johnston started showing signs for lupus when she struggled with climbing a flight of stairs. It took her 17 visits to different doctors before she received the correct diagnosis for lupus myelitis. Since then, the actress has been treated with chemo and steroids and is doing a lot better. At one point, the illness affected her so severely that she could not lift her neck without a brace. She told People that “If [she] had to live like that forever, [she] would have killed [herself]”. However, her life has taken a turn after treatment and she now believes that “Every single day is a gift, and I don’t take one second of it for granted,” she said in an interview with People in 2014.
Johnston now practices sobriety after many years battling alcohol abuse and drug addiction. “Everything was always masked by drugs and alcohol, so to go through this terrible experience it’s — I don’t know, I’m just a really happy human being. I’m just very grateful, very grateful.”
In 2014 Johnston also attended the 14th Annual Lupus LA Orange Ball in Beverly Hills, California, and has since continued to speak publically about the severity of her disease.