“I was told it was just ‘growing pains.’ I felt the pain with every bend of my knee. Hours later, I heard people crying around me about a ‘missing leg.’ I tried to open my eyes. The pain is still so vivid.”
‘I was 11, hooked up to morphine. ‘If I get rid of my leg, I never have to go through this again?’ I had to make a decision.’: 11-year-old with Osteogenic Sarcoma voluntarily amputates leg
‘We’ve recently found ourselves trading boxes of face masks for bottles of Purell. We’re trying our best to plan ahead.’: Mom of micro-premie says ‘think of our family and others like us too’
“We do not take her out of the house. Her life depends on it. We are trying our best to plan ahead, but as stores quickly lose stock and people hoard items to resell at an upcharge, we have begun to scramble. She is immunocompromised.”
‘I was completely caught off guard when the boy next door from my childhood friend-requested me on Facebook. ‘Sometimes a simple hello can open a door. Great smile.’: After divorce and bad luck in love, woman finds her ‘forever’
“Gag me with a spoon, right? I wasn’t sure it was true. I mean, who would leave this fine specimen of the male species? He asked for my number and we agreed to meet for coffee. It was snowing, pretty hard. This guy offered to drive over an hour in it to see me. This was a big. freaking. deal.”
‘Recently, I walked into a room full of young men. I didn’t find any of them attractive. It hit me: I like girls.’: Teen comes out as lesbian to her family, ‘They love me no matter who or what I am’
“I totally cried. As my mom told them, I hid behind my tea mug (it was a pretty big mug) because I didn’t want them to see me crying. I thought I was strong enough to not. Of course, my dad then joined as well and stated, ‘Yeah, I’m straight, I like women.’ We all laughed as he looked at my mom.”
‘I remember calling the police so they wouldn’t blame me for abuse. I knew he was going to harm himself. I could no longer keep him safe.’: Mom of son with aggressive autism says ‘he’s perfect to me’
“I stood behind him, yelling to my husband to watch as I clapped repeatedly behind his head loudly. He didn’t even flinch. I said, ‘He’s deaf, right?’ When he was in elementary school, he was physically abused by a speech pathologist. I reached out to anyone and everyone for help, but I was left empty-handed for a very long time.”
‘The surgeon put a foreign object in my womb instead of tying my tubes. The hot, metal coils unraveled and poisoned me.’: Woman undergoes hysterectomy after faulty sterilization, ‘The procedure is now banned’
“A few months later, I could barely walk. My hips popped out of their socket every time I stood up. The pain was excruciating. I’d turn down social invitations and dates out of fear for my appearance. I had major brain fog and my memory was non-existent. The OBGYN assured, ‘This procedure is WAY better.’ Countless others said it topped the ‘older method.’ In hindsight, I should never have agreed to it.”
‘At 12, the psychiatrist gave an ultimatum. ‘If you don’t gain 0.2 pounds by Monday, I’m sticking a tube down your throat and admitting you to the psych ward.’: Anorexia survivor says ‘recovery is a choice I make every day’
“I cheated my way out, really believing the worst was over. That lasted 12 hours. My mom took me to the supermarket to buy a birthday cake for my friend. I stood in the cake aisle and started to panic. I couldn’t do it. I was so consumed by it, even looking at the cake felt like something I’d have to punish myself for. I left the story empty-handed and in tears. I didn’t think I’d live to see my 15th birthday.”
‘She is 4 years old. 5 weeks and 1 day. And she isn’t toilet trained.’: Mom says her daughter ‘will do it in her own time’
“Today when I was met with a disproving look, one of shock and full of judgement about her not wanting to toilet train. I confidently shook my head and I proudly said, ‘She will do it. In her own time.'”
‘This surgery is unlike the other 35. Do you understand we don’t know the effects?’ With a shaky hand, I signed my name on the black line.’: Woman with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome undergoes life-altering surgery
“‘I’m ‘chickening out. I can’t do it.’ My dad was holding the door open when I took ONE step and froze. Something shifted in my back like it never had. I had some ‘colorful language’ and said, ‘Let’s go.’ Tears in my eyes, I signed my name on the black line. 8 hours later, I woke up screaming. ‘I can’t do this! Ow! The pain! Ow! PUT ME IN A COMA! I CAN’T DO THIS!’ The meds weren’t working. My mom was rushed in.”
‘She is always with you.’ There I was, burying my daughter, picking out the perfect casket. ‘No, she’s not f#$King here, is she?’: Mom mourns loss of daughter to flu, ‘In 20 years I will still be thinking about my baby girl’
“When I walked in, she hugged me. I whispered in her ear, ‘Don’t f*@King ask how I’ve been, because I’ve been better. Now can we please do something about my gray hairs.’ The worst is always ‘time will heal.’ You think every day for the rest of my life I won’t think about her and it won’t break my heart all over again?’ It sends me into an internal rage.”