“My story is of a girl who lost everything and is now gaining back more than she ever had. I was fourteen when a traumatic event triggered my chronic illnesses. I started experiencing countless symptoms, mostly due to autonomic nervous system dysfunction. The worst symptom of all, was the extreme pain in my chest that…
“My life changed forever on October 29th, 2002. I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at the age of six and given a 50 percent chance of survival. Make no mistake, my six- to eight-year-old self was an absolute badass. I handled hospital stays, Hickman infections, blood clots, low blood counts, transfusions, spinal taps and…
“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…