“If the old me could look into the future, I’d say don’t give up. He’s a warrior and deserves to live a beautiful life. We hope a cure will be found in his lifetime.”
‘His first two years were spent in and out of hospitals with countless seizures. I was scared every day of losing him.’: Mom raises awareness for son’s rare Sturge-Weber syndrome
‘I burst into tears. ‘You’re not crazy,’ my doctor said as he held my hand.’: Woman with chronic illness shares journey to diagnosis
“I couldn’t attend college, I was struggling to hold down a job and just to get out of bed in the morning. I was desperately searching for answers.”
‘You don’t feel good again, Mom?’ How do you explain to children what an autoimmune condition is?’: Mom with 2 autoimmune diseases shares how she took her life back
“‘It’s okay, mommy’s get tired too.’ He was right, I was tired. But it went beyond mom tired.”
‘I experimented with 9 months of sensory isolation. There was never a moment when the pain was below a 7.’: Man shares story of triumph over chronic pain and illness
“‘You’ve gone enough today.’ I was the ‘sick’ kid who was bullied for wetting my pants. But now, instead of an endless nightmare, I have joy and dreams.”
‘I arrived in December 1989 only 3 pounds, with my organs outside of my body.’: Exomphalos warrior defies all odds, overcomes bullying to start national support group
“With how small I was, and how rare it was, they told my family I wouldn’t live. Little did they know, I was a little warrior who wasn’t going to give up.”
What It’s Really Like Living With Chronic Migraines
“It’s not just a bad headache or a really bad hangover. It is a hell you cannot escape.”
‘My heart crumpled under the weight of yet another frozen shoulder. I knew our marriage was terminal.’: Divorcee embarks on self love journey, shares lessons learned about loneliness
“Loneliness hurts – both literally and figuratively. I began losing my hair and was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue. I cried daily. Suicidal ideation creeped in, first shocking, and then regularly.”
‘I remember thinking, ‘Why is my body doing this to itself?’ I was so angry at my immune system for failing me.’: Woman shares life with stoma after Chronic Colitis diagnosis
“I will never stop talking about it – to challenge the stigma so no one has to feel embarrassment and shame.”
‘They told my mom, ‘I don’t think she will survive.’ All of my family came to say goodbye.’: Woman shares 24-year journey to rare Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome diagnosis, interabled love story
“The girl in the hospital bed who could barely walk across the room wouldn’t believe she’d be walking her baby in a stroller, with her trusty poodle by her side, taking care of a home, husband, and a baby all while working full time.”
‘She grabbed the doll in the wheelchair and her Barbie and said, ‘She has walkers too!’: Special needs mom shares daughter’s sweet inclusive moment, ‘I must be doing something right’
“To her, disability is normal. It’s not new, or scary. It’s not unapproachable. In her little pretend play mind, disability is fully included in every scenario. If only everyone in the world had Gabby’s lens.”