News Detail
Sophomore Inks Children’s Book on Living with Lupus
Dharma Le ’26 missed her last day of middle school as she fought a 105 degree fever. She rallied to walk across the stage at her graduation but was admitted at Children's Hospital of Orange County a week later.
A rheumatologist diagnosed her with an autoimmune disease: Lupus.
“It was really hard because all of my friends were celebrating our graduation. This was also the summer before freshman year and I had summer assignments for Sage Hill courses,” Dharma said. “It was a tough experience, overall, but I feel like it taught me to be more grateful for my health because that was something I wasn’t really conscious about before.”
A rheumatologist diagnosed her with an autoimmune disease: Lupus.
“It was really hard because all of my friends were celebrating our graduation. This was also the summer before freshman year and I had summer assignments for Sage Hill courses,” Dharma said. “It was a tough experience, overall, but I feel like it taught me to be more grateful for my health because that was something I wasn’t really conscious about before.”
As she recovered in the hospital, Dharma noticed how many other patients were younger than her. She also remembers the complex – and at times confusing – medical jargon doctors used to explain her illness and treatment.
Dharma was motivated by these young patients to publish a children’s book “Larry the Lobster Has Lupus.” She hopes the book helps kids understand what the disease does to their bodies through a simple, upbeat writing style and drawings of a colorful crustacean.
“I was inspired by these children's books that I read when I was younger, like ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar.’ I tried to make it as easy to read as those books. But I also try to explain really complex medical procedures,” Dharma said.
The sophomore picked a lobster as her book's main character because she thought having alliteration in the title would be fun for kids.
Because of her Vietnamese heritage and the large diaspora living in Orange County, Dharma is eager to publish a Vietnamese translation of her book. She’s started a petition encouraging Amazon to reconsider its decision to not allow its self-publishing customers to print books in Vietnamese.
“A lot of young children have autoimmune diseases and the physicians try to explain it but there's a big language barrier,” Dharma said. “Families try reading the translated websites but the pages for Vietnamese are really short, maybe one paragraph. Many of these patients are having a really hard time understanding their disease.”
“I was inspired by these children's books that I read when I was younger, like ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar.’ I tried to make it as easy to read as those books. But I also try to explain really complex medical procedures,” Dharma said.
The sophomore picked a lobster as her book's main character because she thought having alliteration in the title would be fun for kids.
Because of her Vietnamese heritage and the large diaspora living in Orange County, Dharma is eager to publish a Vietnamese translation of her book. She’s started a petition encouraging Amazon to reconsider its decision to not allow its self-publishing customers to print books in Vietnamese.
“A lot of young children have autoimmune diseases and the physicians try to explain it but there's a big language barrier,” Dharma said. “Families try reading the translated websites but the pages for Vietnamese are really short, maybe one paragraph. Many of these patients are having a really hard time understanding their disease.”
Dharma dedicated her book to her parents and extended family.
Sage Hill School
Sage Hill School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and athletic and other School administered programs.