The first thing that impressed me about Nicole was her cheerfulness. Here was a 34-year-old beautiful woman who had every reason in the world to be sad and self-absorbed. But, instead, she was anything but. She suffered from an autoimmune disorder that was greatly affecting her life.

It’s February, and we’ve been in the darkest, coldest time of year for several months. For some people, this is a SAD time of year. I’m talking about SAD as in Season Affective Disorder. SAD is a condition that causes depression and anxiety during the times of the year when there’s less sunlight.

Imagine that there was a disease associated with 25% to 30% of hospital deaths. Imagine that this number goes up closer to 50% when patients have complications. Imagine it was fast-acting and likely to be fatal if it wasn't caught quickly. And imagine if it was rarely listed as the cause of death, reducing the attention it received and making care givers less aware to watch out for its signs before it became fatal.