“I couldn’t lift my leg to get in the shower. I was 29 years old, feeling like a senior citizen. My family had to help me do everything. I was no longer myself.”
‘I was the youngest person in the waiting room with a walker.’: Chronic illness warrior says diagnosis proved ‘how strong I really am’
‘Mom, what’s wrong with that boy?’ She was looking at MY boy. It broke my heart forever.’: Mom advocates for son with rare genetic abnormality
“The doctor tried to comfort me. ‘I see it very often.’ Then she looked at him. What we found was worse than we could ever imagine.”
‘Your mom has taken her own life.’ The room spun as I screamed. If I had answered her call, could I have stopped her?’: Woman loses mom to suicide, advocates for mental health
“She ran away for the first time just before I turned 9. She drove straight to the airport and headed across the country. ‘I promise I’ll make it home for your birthday.’ She wasn’t there.”
‘I looked in the mirror. ‘There’s no way I have anorexia. I’m not thin enough.’: Woman recovers from eating disorders, ‘I finally feel at home in my body
“In fourth grade, I remember looking over at the girl sitting next to me. ‘Why don’t I look like her?’ Her stomach was flat, not round like mine.”
‘They asked, ‘Does she taste salty?’ Panic began to sink in.’: Mom says daughter’s cystic fibrosis is ‘a mama’s worst nightmare’
“If you kissed Alexis on the forehead and licked your lips, it would taste like the ocean. All the blood drained from my face.“
‘Your pregnancy is extremely high-risk.’ No baby had ever survived this.’: Disabled mom survives near-fatal pregnancy, shares mental health journey
“My body has more implants and bionic body parts/organs than human parts. I’m not the mother I envisioned myself being, but I get out of bed anyway. For my kids, for my husband, and for myself.”
‘I sat in my mom’s kitchen, bawling. She was the first person brave enough to say, ‘You need to talk to a doctor.’: Mom shares journey with postpartum depression
“I’d drive my car to the river and sit there, thinking about how long it would take to break through the ice. I just wanted to leave this world. I never shared this with anyone.”
‘I had a once in a lifetime, freak emergency. When I tell doctors what happened, they don’t believe me.’: Chronic illness warrior urges ‘hold on to joy’
“I had severe pain on my right side that wouldn’t go away. I was taken to the ICU, where the fight of my life began. I was hospitalized for over 40 days while they tried to save me.”
‘When I told him, his response was, ‘And I could get hit by a bus.’ None of us know what the future holds.’: Woman with rare disorder lives with intention
“I’ll never forget having my whole life ahead of me one day and the next, being told, ‘There’s no cure. Your life expectancy is 5-10 years.’ I was scared and alone.”
‘I won’t raise my hand too high because it might upset somebody.’ I picked apart my every move.’: Woman with anxiety advocates for mental heath
“How could the president of a mental health awareness club struggle with her own mental health? I finally ran out of options.”