“It’s in your head. Try harder. Take a pill. You are a woman, women get a little sensitive and crazy sometimes. It’s probably menopause. All my life I knew something was wrong, but no one would listen until last year.”
‘My brain and body are deteriorating.’: Woman shares candid reality of battling rare Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension
‘People were pointing and staring. My son cried, ‘This is why I hate coming out with you.’ It broke my heart.’: Widowed mom with Russell-Silver Syndrome urges kindness
“My doctor told me, ‘If you don’t get a job, you could always work in the circus.’ People would pat me on the head and say, ‘Isn’t she cute?’ But I never gave up, and I proved them wrong.”
‘It could be the most interaction and joy they experience for months. In some cases, their last experience.’: Firefighter repels to visit children in hospital where she fought for her own life
“I got the opportunity to rappel and engage with other kids at the same exact location I was told I may not live. The same place I had to relearn how to walk. The same place I had my miracle baby years later, the one they told me I would never have.”
‘Why do you walk and talk funny?’ His words made me sick. I began to accept this would be the rest of my life forever.’: Cerebral palsy warrior turned model urges for visibility
“I couldn’t go out to a fancy restaurant without worrying about cutting my steak or remembering to wipe food dribbling out of my mouth. Anything but staying home and feeling sorry for myself felt impossible.”
‘At 18 months, we worried about her lack of speech. ‘Read to her.’ She would pull the book away, mad I was touching it in the first place.’: Mom learns to accept daughter’s autism diagnosis
“I allowed myself to mourn what I thought our life was going to look like. Then I told myself I needed to move forward because that beautiful brown-eyed girl is counting on me to be her mother. To advocate for her, to fight for her, and to speak for her until she could speak herself.”
‘At 22, I fell in love with a man who was eccentric and exciting. I felt life would never be boring. Boring it was not.’: Young mom finds new love after escaping narcissistic abuse, ‘I am worthy’
“Over the next two years, one man was filling my heart, while another was hellbent on tearing it apart. My ex restlessly continued this stressful family battle full of dirty, malicious, and vindictive tactics worthy of a dark Netflix series.”
‘You don’t have to punish yourself.’ Blood dripped out of my nose and mouth. I believed I deserved my misery.’: Woman shares recovery journey with anorexia
“I felt perpetually punished for existing. I was barred from running, then from even walking. I realized if I stayed this way, I would die.”
32 Facts To Remember When People Don’t ‘Get You’
“Not everyone is going to like you, and it has nothing to do with you.”
‘I spent the first year of my child’s life blaming myself, not wanting my child to have ‘special needs.’: Mom to daughter with Coffin-Siris Syndrome urges ‘you are your child’s best advocate’
“When she was losing weight, it was because I tried to force breastfeeding too long. When she couldn’t bring her hands together, it was because I had swaddled her longer than I should’ve. When she couldn’t crawl, it was because I didn’t do enough tummy time.”
‘He needed the care more than I did.’ My stretcher remained in the hallway. I shed tears when I was alone.’: Stroke patient shares emotional hospital stay during COVID, life-altering diagnosis
“I felt the right side of my body get heavy. My knee gave out, and a lightheaded feeling like a strong high took over. But I was convinced I must be okay.”