“I wasn’t eating anything anymore. All I consumed was 25 cans of Coke Zero a day. I’d sit and wait until the day was over to see if I had lost more weight. I was about to kick my boyfriend out of my life to isolate myself and make more room for anorexia.”
“I told everyone a little one would join our family before Christmas. As we sat around the table, it hit me I might just be wrong. I was standing in the kitchen with my family, saying our goodbyes when I got a text from our agency. Now my heart was beating faster than ever.”
“My 31st birthday came. I kept all the receipts so I could return the gifts and give everyone their money back. No one knew this, but I was going to die in 4 days. I was prepared. I was the calmest I’d felt in years.”
“It hit us like a ton of bricks. Suddenly, everything I envisioned for my child’s life went out the window. Going through life being different from everyone else seemed impossible.”
“I took my first drink when I was about 14 years old. For the first time, I felt okay. I needed more. On my fifteenth birthday, I took my first hit of acid. The probation officer told my parents, ‘She’ll be dead in a few years.’ My bottom was near.”
“My body was unrecognizable. It was like a lightning strike. I nearly passed out trying to take my dog to use the bathroom.”
“What’s the point of having a child if you lose your own identity? I still had so much to offer in my life, but technically ‘nothing’ to show for it. I permitted myself to be me.”
“It felt like my rib cage was being crushed, and as if I had forgotten how to breathe. ‘It sounds like panic attacks.’ When a nurse was there with a box of tissues, I realized it wasn’t going to be the same this time.”
“I was known as ‘Chelsea with one finger.’ A little girl started screaming like she’d seen a monster. She pointed straight at my hand and screamed as if it were a feral animal coming at her.”
“I was bloated from the chemotherapy and chunks of my hair were falling out. I was ill and exhausted. As defeated as I felt, I wasn’t ready to give up hope for our happy ending.”
