“I broke down crying, ‘Promise me she’s going to be okay.’ I didn’t think I’d be coming home with my daughter. I couldn’t understand how my 2-year-old was on life support. How I could breathe and she couldn’t?”
‘They told me, ‘It’s nothing to worry about. Every baby does this.’ She was turning BLUE. I knew this wasn’t normal.’: New mom births baby with congenital heart defect, ‘She makes me proud every day’
‘Everything looked normal to the surgeon.’ I felt helpless. My fight to find what was wrong was nowhere near over.’: Woman finally diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, ‘Be your own advocate’
“I woke up in the recovery room. ‘Did they find anything?’ My heart broke when the tests came back clear. I’d been relying on this surgery to give me answers. My body was struggling.”
‘Your chance of getting pregnant is ZERO.’ I’ve always known my life would look different. Miracle upon miracle happened. There it was, a beating heart.’: Mom of 6 says ‘there’s beauty in the scars’
“Her mother’s uterus had ruptured. The paperwork said, ’Severe brain trauma.’ She was a promise fulfilled. 2 years later, I got a call about an abandoned baby boy. We never left his side. Saying ‘yes’ to hard things keeps the world moving.”
‘Oh, honey.’ She noticed a cleft lip and clubbed feet. ‘This is going to be hard.’: Woman shares journey with daughter’s CHARGE syndrome
“Her growth began to slow. ’Rare but not unheard of’ became my life story. My daughter’s heart was giving up. ‘This is really hard news. But you can do this.’ It was exactly what I needed to hear.”
‘I’ve been drowning for so long.’ I washed my hands until they bled and cleaned obsessively. My brain played tricks on me.’: Nurse becomes mental health advocate, ‘You’re NOT alone’
“My family and friends told me, ‘Calm down. Everybody gets stressed.’ I watched my parents Lysol my whole car, shaking on the ground and unable to move. Being on the other side of healthcare as the patient everyone assumed was ‘crazy’ felt absolutely surreal.”
‘We found a baseball-sized cyst.’ It was 3 weeks before my wedding. I knew I still had more healing to do.’: Dietitian shares fertility journey, ‘There’s no shame in medication’
“I was exercising too much, eating too little, and really letting my blood sugar get out of control. I didn’t prioritize my health. It was the time to finally start digging into what was going on with me.”
‘Society says divorce ruins people. You’re flawed for not ‘fixing’ or ‘fighting’ for your marriage. But there’s a deeper meaning.’: Mom of 3 is ‘grateful’ for divorce, ‘This was meant to make me grow’
“I felt constantly judged, criticized, unsupported, and disconnected. I was craving for this love within, yet it was so difficult to make it click. What if we walked into relationships sans the attachment to forever?”
‘The nurse said, ‘God bless you. This will make their Christmas.’ That’s all I could ever hope for, for others to not feel alone.’: Sickle Cell warrior starts Christmas toy drive, ‘It came full circle’
“Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces in the pictures reminded me of waking up on Christmas day in my hospital bed. Even hooked up to a drip, I’d open my presents. I wanted to make a difference.”
‘She said the words I hoped to never hear again, ‘You have cancer.’ I know life isn’t fair, but 3 times? It felt downright cruel.’: Mom shares cancer journey, ‘While I’m changed, I’m still here’
“One night, I woke up crying in pain. ‘Please just cut my leg off!’ I lost my childhood, my innocence. Just as life started to feel normal, my scans weren’t coming back clear. There was something in my lung and no one knew what it was.”
‘Just one bite. It’s Christmas after all.’ I ran out of the room, crying. For over 10 years, I hated Christmas. I was terrified of it.’: Anorexia survivor says ‘I look for moments of joy’
“I spent Christmas after Christmas in fear. In fear of gaining weight. In fear of everything Christmas represents. ‘Do I want to spend the rest of my life reducing myself?’ Anorexia had wrapped its way around my brain.”