Ocean City Alumna: From Lupus Diagnosis To 8 Half Marathons

OCEAN CITY, N.J. — Whether she's racing a half marathon or walking from her parking spot, there's a lot you can't tell about Nicole Scrofani. The Ocean City High School alumna has completed eight half marathons. But often it's the difficulty of the more routine tasks that people don't understand about her and others with lupus.

Scrofani will return to Ocean City on Sunday for the Walk To End Lupus South Jersey. Thousands of people, including many with the disease, will participate in the walk nationwide. For some, like Scrofani, it might be one of the only days people will know what she's enduring.

Read more: Ocean City To Host Walk To End Lupus

"You can’t see it," Scrofani said of lupus. "What bothers me sometimes is you see someone with a handicap permit in their car. I don’t have one. But I’ve seen other people with it because they do have difficulty walking but they don’t look like it. People judge that.

"You don’t want to every judge someone by their appearance. You don’t know what they’re going through."

Scrofani prepared for her first half marathon about five years ago. She developed a cold, but the symptoms worsened. Scrofani developed rashes and a blood clot. Her back and legs swelled.

Doctors diagnosed Scrofani with lupus. Her kidneys failed.

"I went from running miles one weekend to barely being able to get out of bed the next weekend," Scrofani said.

Lupus occurs when your body's immune system attacks your own tissues and organs, according to the Mayo Clinic. Inflammation caused by lupus can affect systems all over your body.

Diagnosis and appropriate treatment of lupus often get delayed because of a lack of awareness and understanding of the disease, according to the Lupus Foundation of America.

Scrofani, who grew up in Upper Township, couldn't run when she first received diagnosis. But she had no choice but to keep moving forward.

"It’s kind of a constant battle because you know if you let it win, it’s going to take over," Scrofani said. "So I try to keep moving."

Scrofani, however, received good news while she drove. She got a call in her Bluetooth that she entered remission.

Leaving bed used to feel impossible. Later, running five miles felt impossible. But Scrofani called running "the best drug" for her, since it's kept her in remission the last few years.

Scrofani, who lives in Mount Laurel, works as an insurance fraud investigator for GEICO. GEICO featured Scrofani in a video interview when she ran a half marathon in 2017.

See the video below:

She has difficult moments that stretch months. Scrofani dealt with bronchitis last November, and it lasted until January. Nonetheless, she managed to run another half marathon two months later — then a 15K race, then another half marathon, all in the span of 30 days.

Scrofani does give one indication of her battle during races: she'll always race in her "Lupus Foundation of America: Philadelphia Tri-State Chapter" t-shirt. Sunday's walk won't be as grueling as a half marathon. But Scrofani and every participant with lupus or without will move in the same direction: forward.

"It’s not about distance. It’s not about the speed," Scrofani told GEICO. "It’s just about the ability to get out there and say I did it and finished it. As long as I finish it, that’s the only thing I care about."

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