Stem cells may hold promise for curing many diseases.

Edjuana Ross can once again enjoy shopping after beating lupus, a disease she battled for more than a decade.

"I had extreme joint pain, and every single day I was sick and tired," said Ross.

Lupus attacked Ross’ immune system and scarred her face. The disease damaged her heart and caused three strokes.

The treatment for the disease was almost as hard, as cortisone that Ross was given caused her to gain nearly 100 pounds.

"It took a lot for me just to get out of bed," said Ross.

Dr. Richard Burt from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago recommended an adult stem cell transplant with the goal of fixing her immune system.

"What we're doing is rebooting the computer. So the computer's gone on the blitz and we've rebooted it, and now it's working," said Burt.

First, patients have blood removed to harvest the stem cells.

Next, chemotherapy destroys the existing, broken immune system. Patients are then given stem cells to build a new immune system.

Burt added, "The patients we've treated, many of them have their lives back."

In Burt’s study, about half of patients who had the procedure done are now free of lupus, Ross being one of the patients.

"It changed my life and it made my life better, and it made me appreciate a lot of other things," said Ross.

Slimmed down and feeling better, Ross is now looking forward to her lupus-free future.

The treatment is now the subject of testing for individuals with other diseases like multiple sclerosis and diabetes.

However, risks can include the need for possible blood transfusions, infections, nausea and the risk of becoming sterile.