“I started to write this piece a few times and found myself coming at it from this inspirational lens. You know, the way that people feel comfortable hearing about chronic illness/cancer- that it is a ‘gift’ , that it taught me about ‘x,y,z’.– And it just didn’t feel authentic. That being said, I didn’t only…
“I’ve always known I was different. From the age of 2, I frequented the Children’s Hospital looking for a diagnosis for a lump on my face. Doctors were able to determine it was a lymphatic angioma of the parotid (aka benign tumor). Sounds harmless, right? The problem was the removal of this surgery was much…
“I’m a forty-one-year-old disabled mother of three and pastor’s wife, currently undergoing chemotherapy for Lupus Vasculitis. I look in the mirror and wonder, ‘how did I get here so fast?’ The hours lying awake at night in pain; losing my ability to walk; the years of failed medications; doctors; hospital stays; ER visits; the specialists; the…
“It has almost been a lifetime of pain. A lifetime of looking for answers and hoping for a miracle. For as long as I can remember I have been in and out of hospitals desperately searching for answers. Daily bone dislocations, bruising at the slightest touch of a feather, chronic headaches, fainting episodes, and daily…
“Growing up I was a go-getter. A typical type A, or nowadays known as a type 3 on the enneagram..I got validation and worth by working hard and getting good grades. It gave me purpose and confidence. I say ‘I was a type 1’ because while some say don’t let diseases define you, there are…
Trigger Warning: This story includes topics of rape and sexual harassment. “I was diagnosed with severe generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and PTSD at the age of 19. In the year of 2016, when I thought that this would be the prime year of my life, I was raped by a man I knew from high…