From Volunteer Work to Fundraising, Local Nurse Focuses on Raising Awareness of Lupus

Leslie Vizcarra always knew she wanted to follow the path of many of her family members and become a nurse – to enter a field that helps people when they need it the most.

Today, she uses her knowledge to help lupus patients find the best treatment for them. 

“Not one lupus patient has the same journey,” said Vizcarra, the patient navigator at the .

Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can present itself differently in each person—according to the foundation’s website, the symptoms vary and can include extreme fatigue, light sensitivity, chest pain or hair loss.

As the chapter’s patient navigator, Vizcarra is responsible for reaching out to the patients who contact the chapter looking for help. She can refer them to local physicians or provide them with up-to-date information, or she can invite them to one of the new patient classes or support groups. Patients learn a lot by sharing their stories with others, she said. 

She asks them what they need, empowering them with information. 

Vizcarra did become a nurse, but her early involvement with the Lupus Foundation helped her see another side of the field. She realized there was more to nursing than just working at patients’ bedsides. She could also help educate people.

Thirteen years ago, Vizcarra was a Key Club student in the 8th grade in the Brecksville-Broadview Heights schools. The foundation was hosting a clambake and needed volunteers to help do things like sell tickets.

“It was just a fun place to be,” she said, so she kept coming back.

During her junior year of high school, Vizcarra was attending for half of her day and taking part in the health careers program at the the other half. At the career center, students had the chance to get a part-time job in their field. She chose the Lupus Foundation, and has worked there in some capacity ever since.

“I’ve definitely grown with the foundation,” Vizcarra said. She even met her future husband through her volunteer work at the foundation -- he's the son of the executive director.

Linda Knepper, a program director at the foundation, has worked with Vizcarra since she was in high school, and she said she considers her a "fourth daughter." She's empathetic, considerate, hard-working and "very patient," Knepper said.

"She's definitely an asset," Knepper said.

Vizcarra now works part-time at the foundation as its patient navigator and the coordinator of the , one of the foundation’s largest fundraisers. She also works full-time as a nurse at a nursing home in Parma and is working to get her Registered Nurse licensing at Cuyahoga Community College.

It all keeps her pretty busy, but it’s obvious that Vizcarra cares about the patients. She said she’s constantly touched by patients’ stories, by parents seeking information for their child. She likes to check in with patients after she talks with them, to hear about what worked for them and what didn’t.

She said that knowing that people need help is what inspires her to stay.