“Friends, don’t say, ‘If you need anything let me know.’ We won’t. We won’t tell you. We never want to be a burden.”
‘On my honeymoon, I had an ‘is this it?’ moment. Your mind says that’s crazy. You’re crazy. I don’t see another way to escape this rabbit hole.’
‘I went to the bathroom 10-12 times a day. Each time, I sat crying and begging for it to be over. Then, the last straw. My bottom ripped open after a 2-week recovery.’: Woman’s journey with Crohn’s and perianal disease
“As I opened my eyes, I could see the blank white ceiling, hear the sound of alarms going off, and feel the indescribable pain spread across my body. The surgery was successful, but did that mean I was okay?”
‘By age 9, I had thoughts about my own funeral. I wondered who would attend. Mom would find my Barbie dolls with notes like, ‘I want to die.’ Not at all normal for a child to be saying.’
“I remember telling my parents, ‘I love my life.’ That would soon change.‘ I lost the majority of my friends due to bullying. ‘I couldn’t even kill myself. I’m a failure.’”
‘We decided to fight for Oliver. His dad said, ‘If you’re in, I’m in.’ I was extremely nervous. He looked right into my eyes the moment we met.’
“What would we tell his big brother? The results came back negative, so we were left with no answers. I was then approached by a family member who informed me of a syndrome that had affected boys born into my family in the past.”
‘Why didn’t you call the police?’ ‘I would have fought back.’ ‘Well, why didn’t you?’ ‘You got married really young. Did you see the signs before you were married?’: Woman ‘angry’ she was never ‘educated on what abuse is’
“I would hear the words, ‘I want a divorce,’ for the first time, on our honeymoon. A friend had an intervention with me. An aunt told me, ‘You know, you don’t have to do this,’ right after we were engaged. I remember scoffing, thinking, ‘All it takes is commitment.’”
‘This child was made for YOU. You’re the only mother for her. She’s going to be your greatest pride.’ These words broke me. I didn’t know if I believed her.’: Woman shares family’s journey with Down Syndrome, cancer, tumors
‘We were given the all clear and were starting to live our lives! Then one night, my husband found a lump in his neck. I felt so extremely sick. I was throwing up. That’s when my husband suggested, ‘I think you should take a pregnancy test.’ ‘There is no way,’ I told him.”
‘My 7-year-old child was taught how to attempt suicide. She was constantly told to ‘go kill yourself’ by other gamers. She was shown HOW to.’
“Sunday night, she had a full-blown anxiety attack. I held her and sang to her while she got through it. Monday, she drew this in school.”
‘My daughter changed her profile picture. After 5 minutes I get a text. ‘I didn’t know she was dating a black boy, did you?’: Woman recounts unexpected racist interaction
“It took me all day to think up a response.”
‘I looked over at my beautiful baby girl, her blue eyes staring back at me. ‘I’m going to get through this.’ Fighting for my life was the only option.’: New mom survives Guillain-Barre Syndrome, ‘I’m grateful to be alive’
“I couldn’t even fathom what he was saying to me. I was 26 years old, and just gave birth to my daughter 3 weeks before. ‘I can’t stay in the hospital. I need to go home and take care of my newborn.’ ‘Call your family. Tell them they need to come here, right now,’ the doctor told me.”
‘Are you the husband?’ He replied, ‘Haley’s?’ ‘Yes. She and baby aren’t doing well. The baby needs to come NOW.’ I tried to frantically call him. He was completely unaware.’
“When I woke up, I was in a big open room full of other patients recovering. I had multiple nurses around me. One said, ‘Your son is in the NICU.’ My son?! I have a SON? This definitely wasn’t how I expected to find out!”