“Every step he takes is a mountain climbed, every word he signs or says is a dream realized, every milestone met, a prayer answered. He is the bravest person I know.”
‘When he needs me, he can reach out that cute little hand and mine will be right there, ready for him. Steady for him.’: Special needs mom shares ode to brave son with extra chromosome, ‘I hold his hands, but he holds my heart’
‘The doctor said, ‘It’s just teenage girl stuff.’ I was living with everyday pain as if it were normal, forced to accept feeling this way forever.’: Young woman shares journey to Ulcerative Colitis diagnosis, ‘My life is just beginning’
“I was 21, almost done with my senior year of college. These were supposed to be the best years of my life, yet every day I felt sick and exhausted and no doctor could tell me why. I was told it was ‘all in my head.’ I lost friends because no one could understand. Soon, I was withdrawing from my semester from a hospital bed.”
‘He’s a HORRIBLE little boy.’ My heart broke into pieces.’: Mom details parenting two children with ADHD, ‘The tears and tantrums were worth it’
“Parenting two teens with ADHD is a walk in the park, if it’s Jurassic Park!”
‘I used to wonder why in the world parents would legally change their child’s name. Yet here I am, absolutely delighted.’: Mom explains legal name change for daughter with Down syndrome
“You see, 8 years ago on the day she was born, we had a different name and a different daughter in mind. She is like nothing I imagined, yet everything I hoped for.”
‘He’s coming to kill me!’ My mom covered my mouth to stop the screams. What was really hurting me was the monster inside.’: Chronic illness warrior shares journey, ‘Never give up hope’
“Would you believe me if I told you a tick the size of a poppy seed destroyed my life? I’d go around my perfectly clean room shouting, ‘Dirty! It’s dirty!’ I jumped out the first story window of my house. The pain was too much.”
‘I could feel in my soul something was off about this pregnancy. ‘We can’t find anything worrisome.’ They were missing something, and I knew it.’: Couple uproot themselves for son’s Angelman Syndrome diagnosis, ‘He is our little angel’
“‘He doesn’t have it.’ We hit a dead end. Knowing we needed to be exposed to new doctors, we put a poll on Instagram with three different states. We put our home on the market, sold it and all our furniture with it within 24 hours, and moved from Utah to Texas.”
‘As a bereaved mother of a medically-fragile, premature twin, I can finally say I’ve met my ‘people.’ And the funny thing is, I’ve never actually met any of them.’: Mom thanks ‘Insta-Village’ for ‘being my source of strength’
“I turned to Instagram. Right before my eyes was a ready-made group of soulmates. Women who advocate with such ferocity for their children, who live on 3 hours of sleep, who know reference numbers and caloric values and fio2 conversions off the top of their heads. My people.”
‘We have a kitten with no eyes.’ He looked like a mini Frankenstein monster. Instantly, we became advocates.’: Couple shares animal rescue missions, ‘I never planned to own my own personal zoo’
“I was awakened for the next three nights at 3 a.m. by the bright light of her cell-phone in my face, highlighting the picture of a puppy. ‘Please?’ she begged. In a moment of grief, I felt called to act.”
‘I TOLD you, I’m blind. I can’t anymore.’ His response surprised me. ‘So?’ My new life began.’: Man shares journey learning to live visually impaired, ‘Fail, get up, keep moving forward’
“I biked into the back of a parked car. There was a group of people on the other side of the street laughing. I thought to myself, ‘I knew this would happen, you don’t belong on a bike anymore.’”
‘I think I’m going to die.’ My body was shutting down. If I closed my eyes, they wouldn’t open again.’: Chronic illness warrior battling Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome says ‘hope keeps us alive’
“I went into the hospital, screaming how intense the pain was. The staff took my parents out of the room to ask, ‘Is she pretending to be ill for attention?’ I thought once I was diagnosed, all this would change.”