Zali McPherson is in her early twenties, and shares her story with Lupus. Looking back, Zali realised her symptoms actually started as young as 8-years old, but growing up in four different countries at the time didn’t make it easy for her to develop a relationship with a fixed primary healthcare provider. Finally at 17-years old and back in Australia, she pushed to find out the cause of her ongoing fatigue and recent back pain.  It was no easy feat finding a GP to take her seriously – most dismissed her, she was a teenager after all. Zali knew something wasn’t right, though.  One day at a physiotherapist appointment for her back pain, she was asked about her intermittent joint pain and that’s when she got the idea to be tested for Rheumatoid Arthritis. The very next day she found a GP that agreed to test for RA, and at 18-years old Zali finally got her Lupus diagnosis.  Advocating for yourself to be taken seriously is hard enough – let alone at such a young age. Zali’s story is truly inspirational and an important one for people still on the journey to getting a diagnosis.