All month long, we have been sharing stories of those living with Lupus in The Power of Purple. Today, we conclude the series with one woman who was diagnosed with lupus during her pregnancy.

For 37-year-old Vangie Castro, it was one symptom that prompted her to see a doctor and get not only tests ran but also to see if she was pregnant. "I left off-island in winter of 2018 and i came back on island and I still had the same symptom," she recalled.

That symptom: Raynaud's Phenomenon. Vangie explained, "It is where your fingertips get white or yellow and they have like a numbness. And because I was off-island, I thought it was  just because of the cold."

Castro was diagnosed with lupus and pregnant at the same time. Because of this, she was carefully monitored throughout to ensure a safe pregnancy and delivery of her second child.

"I definitely got checked more often than normal. I saw Dr. [Thomas] Shieh and he saw me very frequently. He took care of me very well.  I was able to see a rheumatologist in the Philippines, every two to three months. Everything turned out fine, and I was able to deliver my baby girl," she said.

She says her roughest days are when she has difficulty getting out of bed, saying, "It's hard to do physical things - the simple life things - holding a utensil, being able to drive, holding a pen to work."

For Castro, a super strong support system is needed to get you through those very bad days. "Thank you to my family, friends, and the lupus community....just for the support; whether it's words of encouragement or simply sharing stories of their bad days and good days...it definitely has helped me through this."

And her message to the community?

"If you experience any weird symptoms, please just get checked. I had no idea about lupus..and unfortunately the island is has no specialists that could diagnose you, but if you feel that anything is off, that you go get check. ..but I came across one symptom  that all came down to lupus," she shared.