“Looking back, I saw it coming but thought I could power through it. Well, even the strong need a break, and because I wasn’t taking one, my body did the work for me. It was a slow-moving storm that turned into a hurricane, and I went down. Hard.”
‘I would think, ‘I have time for me later. It’s their time now.’ The doctor confirmed I wasn’t dying ‘at that moment’ and sent me home. I laid across the receptionist’s desk sobbing, begging them to help me.’
‘I thought I had a clogged milk duct. ‘Ash, go get it checked out. What will it hurt?’: Mom receives cancer diagnosis after thinking she had a clogged milk duct
“I thought it was a clogged milk duct because milk shot out when they did the mammograms. I received the terrifying phone call nobody ever wants to receive. ‘Are you in a safe place to talk?’ I hung up the phone, losing my breath. ‘Stay with me. Stay right here with me.'”
‘He was found dead in his bed. At 21, I was pregnant. My ex-boyfriend refused to believe the baby was his.’: Woman realizes recovery is possible after years of addiction
“My depression was spiraling – I started snorting my Adderall and selling it to pay for alcohol. He was older. I had my first serious boyfriend. That is the night my destiny changed.”
‘For over three years we tried to get to you. Appointment after appointment, shot after shot, tear after tear.’
“Right now I’m looking forward to the sleepless nights, the running late to school or practices, the bedtime struggles followed up by sweet prayers, and the constant laundry pile up.”
‘What should we do now? Adopt a kid or something?’ My chin dropped to the floor. Our family had JUST gotten our heads back above water.’: Couple anxiously waits to adopt son, ‘let’s freaking do it’
“My first response as a rational, responsible wife and mother-of-2 was, ‘HELL NO we should not.’ It sounded too expensive, too risky and too… much. Then my cell phone rang. With caution in her voice, she told me about an 18-month-old little boy, whose mom had unexpectedly passed away, after he was born 10 weeks too early. I am nothing if I’m not a people pleaser. This whole thing seemed too on-the-nose, too predestined, to ignore.”
‘My eyes darted back and forth as I tried to make sense of where I was. As the fog lifted inside my head, I vaguely remembered bits and pieces of the day before, events that changed my life.’
“While I lay on the operating table, my husband sat in the waiting room, wondering if he would lose all three children and his wife in one day. As he overheard the doctors, one word stood out.”
‘I stood there, firm in my stance, hands on my hips, and let them cry rivers all around me – to the point I became an island. Just a big ole, mean mom island.’
“I sure won’t apologize for it. I had to stop caring whether they were having a good time. I made sure my children knew, once and for all, I am more than a friend.”
‘I can’t! I can’t!’, it hurt so much in my chest at that moment I couldn’t say anything else. We were relieved our little girl’s suffering was about to end, just not the way we had hoped.’
“We were told she would be okay. We were told she was strong. We were led to believe she wouldn’t need to be hospitalized. After being intubated, her father was showering, and I heard what sounded like crackling.”
‘I think he has what mommy has!’ He had white chunks of skin around his fingers and toes’: Mom and son diagnosed with Ichthyosis genetic skin condition
“I looked at the ultrasound picture with his hand balled up in a fist. In that moment, I knew. I felt guilty that my choice to potentially pass on this genetic condition could cause one of my children to have a less than perfect life.”
‘No one will miss you.’ I said goodbye to my kids. Everything went white.’: Woman thanks husband’s ‘mistress’ for ‘saving her’ after abuser attempts to take her life
“He briefly took his hand off of my throat and forced the barrel into my mouth. This was my gun, and I couldn’t stop him from turning it on me. I said goodbye to my kids, in my head. I thought of them coming downstairs to find me dead. His phone buzzed, and he stopped. His mistress was at the house. MPs, SWAT, NCIS, and a case worker. Every military wife in the neighborhood was outside my home, gawking.”