“He snored like a little truck and had horrible sleep. He would always fall asleep in the early afternoons. Till one day I said to a doctor, ‘I’m not leaving here until you give me a referral to see a specialist.’ My gut was right.”
‘He used to sleep with his mouth wide open every night and wake up angry. I was told, ‘Oh no, that’s normal. Maybe his nose is blocked.’: After noticing her son’s sleep issues mom says ‘trust your gut’
‘I want to be home with my children. I want to bathe them, cuddle them, and kiss them, but I can’t. Not until this ends.’: Nurse urges ‘don’t wait for someone you love to get infected before you act’
“I am a frontline worker for the hospital. This is how I will see my partner, my daughter, and my two sons for the next few months, through a window for a few minutes a day. This has been the hardest decision I have ever had to make.”
‘I had to wear adult diapers. ‘Do you realize how stupid you look?’ He was mimicking my tics in front of the class.’: Young woman with Tourette’s Syndrome finally finds help, ‘I got my quality of life back’
“I felt stupid because no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t stop. I would spend an hour straightening my shoes, trying to get them ‘just right.’ My dad had to sleep on the floor next to my bed and I had to wear adult diapers. I was left with my self-esteem in shatters. I believed I was a naughty kid.”
’I am home fighting a battle. I am considered non-essential and furloughed from my job. The fear is real.’: Mom out of work during Coronavirus quarantine, ‘‘right now, I need to focus on things I am grateful for’
“I have been given the gift of time amidst all this and I need to appreciate it, embrace it and be thankful, even when I’m scared. I wondered what it would be like to give 100% of myself to just my family. An opportunity that seemed so unrealistic… until suddenly, it wasn’t.”
‘Please, make it stop. Don’t take my baby from me!’ The 16 minute helicopter ride felt like an eternity.’: Mom has child with Sturge-Weber Syndrome, ‘I am so honored to be his mom’
“Shortly after the move, our worst nightmare came true. In the car, I noticed he was acting weird. My son was placed on a stretcher with a neck brace, while screaming and crying like I’d never seen him before. I was helpless and hysterical.”
‘Look at you, puttin’ on lipstick to go to the cemetery,’ my husband teased, whistling at me. I didn’t plan to see a living soul there.’: Woman realizes during quarantine, ‘Fear is no match for God’s love’
“I hadn’t left our property for over a week. I applied a full face of makeup to go for a walk in the cemetery. I didn’t plan to see a living soul there. My heart leapt! There it was. It felt like genuine joy. For many, it will be life changing. And it’s so scary.”
‘Bring me breakfast in the morning if we’re still here,’ joked the doctor. The treatments were painful, I tried to be brave.’: Woman describes her journey with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, ‘I never had a childhood, but hope I can have a good adulthood’
“I was always fragile. When I wasn’t sick, I was injuring myself. My skin would turn purple and red with spots, and everything burned to the touch. I was probed with questions and faced with students’ and faculty’s disbelief. ‘You don’t look sick.’ Using the school’s only elevator resulted in harassment.”
‘He said I was a hypochondriac and was faking. ’You must be enjoying the attention.’ I became extremely nauseous, dizzy, shaky, and felt like I was going to pass out.’: Woman with bulimia, POTS, MCAS, EDS struggles for symptoms to be believed
“I don’t remember losing consciousness. Everything happened so fast, the next thing I can clearly remember is lying flat. I was sitting there, in a wheelchair, and he said I was a hypochondriac and was faking. I left his office in tears.”
‘BAM! That world was taken away from me. I was returning to a new normal.’: Double transplant recipient celebrates Donate Life Month during pandemic, ‘never underestimate how adaptable you are to change’
“It has been wild to see the rest of the world have this eye-opening experience of being removed from society, isolated, scared of germs, wearing masks and gloves and living in fear of one another and the unknown. I’ve spent a lot of my life in quarantine.”
‘I lost 3 patients within the first 8 hours of my shift!’ A new person would come in, sicker then the one before.’: ER nurse begs people to follow quarantine rules, ‘don’t think of yourselves being ‘STUCK’ at home, but being SAFE at home’
“One patient had thrown his shoe at the closed glass door to get our attention. I picked up the call light, reassessed their vitals, and they were comfortable. I’m having a difficult time wrapping my head around the fact that patient was TALKING to me and LESS THAN 30 minutes later this patient was DEAD!”
‘Our 2-year-old needed a hug. I love how much they both enjoyed this moment. There was no disdain for the annoying toddler. Just love.’: Dad says the expectations of parenting have ‘shifted
“When I was a kid, it was clear parents expected us kids to ‘behave.’ Some days are super hard. I’m going to hold onto this moment to remind me of how easy some days can be, too.”
‘I slid onto the floor as I heard the doctor speak. ‘Why do I have to have cancer again, Mama?’ Time seemed to freeze.’: Girl battles neuroblastoma, ‘Izzy continued to fight and the rest of the world just kept going’
“The call came just like it does in the movies. I sat in a rocking chair in her room and slid onto the floor as I heard the doctor speak. I stared at this little play clock. I can still see it so vividly — its tiny yellow hands stood still on its pink face. Time seemed to freeze in those moments. I would remember it as the day our life stopped.”
‘Today my 80-year-old in-laws drove by to sing to me. ‘We know this isn’t the birthday you imagined, but we wanted a chance to see to you in person.’: Woman says ‘the power of human connection’ is stronger than ever
“Let me tell you, this is a weird time to have a birthday. But do you know the nice part about a birthday during crisis? Loved ones still ‘show up.’ It might not be physically, but they are still there.”
‘He’s taking my phone away. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.’ I barely hit send before it was ripped away and sent through the wall.’: Domestic abuse survivor says ‘I am taking my power back’
“I hid in the corner in a fetal position, trying to protect myself. I texted my best friend in a panic. ‘I just need someone to know I’m not dead.’ I barely hit send before my phone was sent through the wall. After I escaped barely alive, my dad gave my abuser a place to live on his property.”
‘You need to decide which baby you want to save.’ Inside, I was starting to unravel. The pregnancy was unplanned, let alone two babies!’: After difficult twin pregnancy mom says ‘God is always here for us’
“We’d worked so hard to get here to just go into labor now. It didn’t seem fair. I kept looking over at Ry for reassurance. Inside, I was freaking out. In my blind ignorance, I was telling myself this is something that shouldn’t be happening to us. ‘If they make it, it is because their trial has made them stronger.'”
‘My husband texted me a photo of her, sitting in the doctor’s office getting her pink cast on with her Mom. My heart hurt, but I couldn’t express it.’: Stepmom says the key is to ‘step up, step back, and step over’
“I burst into the tears during that scene and immediately excused myself to get more popcorn. I would give my two cents on Joe’s response to a text or an e-mail. Joe and I would end up fighting about a conflict that wasn’t between us to begin with! In the words of my dear friend Elsa… ‘Let it GO!’”
‘My husband doesn’t surprise me with flowers or celebrate our first date, but he always refills my drink without me asking.’: Woman says ‘marry the guy who sends you funny memes’
“I married someone who doesn’t make me feel ‘less than’ because he makes more money than me. Marry the kind of guy you want your daughters to one day date.”
‘I haven’t cleaned out a single closet or sorted a single pile, and neither have my children.’: Mom says ‘make the most of your time during quarantine, whatever that may mean’
“There is no grand prize for the person who emerges from quarantine with the tidiest yard, the newest recipes tried, or the longest list of books read. For some, getting through means doing less.”
‘I used to get in pictures with my kids and husband to take selfies, but everything feels and looks different now.’: After losing daughter to flu mom says ‘I will always and forever be beautifully broken’
“My life was ‘picture perfect,’ you could say. Now, I look at myself and I don’t know who that woman is. I have no idea who I am without her. A part of me died when she died.”
‘Today I’m going to grill our favorite foods and make s’mores!’ The next day: ‘Go fix your own food. I’m not moving off this couch all day.’: Mom of 4 shares hilarious reality of quarantine
“It’s either, ‘Come sit in Momma’s lap and let’s read a book!’ or ‘Please don’t touch me. I feel claustrophobic.’ I’m probably the most bipolar stay-at-home mom right now. Poor kids never know which Momma they’re gonna get!”
The Empty Walmart Shelves Remind Me That COVID-19 Has Brought Us Together
“Coronavirus has done some very ugly things. But today was the most comfort I have felt in the midst of this pandemic.”
‘They put him on my chest for the first time. The doctors did a double take and immediately took him back. ‘Treacher Collins? WHAT?’: Little boy with Treacher Collins Syndrome spreads kindness and acceptance
“FINALLY! I was induced, and FOUR days later, PJ came out! His dad and I cried tears of joy. Then the doctors did a double take and took him away. I thought he was the most beautiful boy, but I feared how he would be treated by other kids. He will always look this way.”
Dear Teachers, Our Students Are Experiencing Life Stressors We Know Nothing About
“Sitting on the ground outside of a Subway, he told me his dad does concrete work. His company has threatened to shut down, so having internet at home is not a priority right now. This young man is TRYING, but life is hard right now.”
‘I kept asking, ‘Is my baby okay? Why has no one updated me yet?’ I don’t want to touch him. I don’t want to even look at him.’: Baby born with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, ‘They avoid us like the plague’
“‘Termination should be strongly considered,’ was rubbed into my face. For 2 weeks after his birth, no one but myself and my husband were allowed to see Preston due to isolation. Our 2-year-old daughter wasn’t allowed to meet her new little brother. I didn’t ever go a day without having hope.”
‘Right now I’m cherishing the everyday, the overlooked moments we take for granted.’: Mom of 3 says her lesson from isolation is ‘being present is better’
“I study my kiddos more. I just sit there and watch, observing them. It’s a good thing for life to be lived in the slow lane. I don’t want to forget.”