Snoop, family cope with child's lupus

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LOS ANGELES, July 10 (UPI) -- U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg says he felt "helpless" trying to understand why his little daughter was sick with a disease that later turned out to be lupus.

Five years ago, the rapper and his wife Shante Broadus noticed a light spot on their then-6-year-old daughter Cori, People magazine reported. When the girl began losing lots of weight and her hair, and countless doctors could offer no diagnosis," I felt helpless," the rapper told People with tears in his eyes. "No power, no friends."

"No one could tell me what was wrong," his wife added. "They drew tons of blood and said she has old-person cells. They gave her all kinds of (medication). But she went downhill."

After getting the diagnosis of lupus months later, the family began an effort to understand the autoimmune disease, People said, which ultimately brought his family closer together.

"She's the toughest little thing I've ever met," Snoop Dogg told the magazine. "She's on the honor roll, playing volleyball and softball, living life. She has all this joy. In the beginning lupus was winning. But now Cori is."