“For as long as I can remember, I’ve been nauseous. I had lost 40 pounds. I started to find that the harder I worked, the more stamina I lost. The weaker I got. My body would physically swell. Then the horribly loud and embarrassing belching developed. ‘I really don’t think you need these tests. I believe your symptoms are psychosomatic.’ The doctors all told me it was anxiety. It was ‘in my head’ and I needed to ‘push past it and challenge myself.’ I would remain misdiagnosed, dismissed, and passed off, for another full year.”
‘This is clearly a case of anorexia. You’re a teenage ballerina refusing food.’: Woman with MALS is misdiagnosed for 20 years, ‘I was now convinced. They were doctors. They had to be right, right?’
‘She adopted 2 kids and NOW she’s pregnant.’ After explaining we happily adopted, the doctor replied, ‘So they’re not yours.’: Mom adopts 2 children, gets rude comments for being pregnant with biological child
“To the person from my hometown who started a rumor that I was on fertility drugs. To my youngest child’s doctor who asked the question I had been asked a million times. ‘First child?’ ‘Nope! 3rd child, first pregnancy!’ then had the gall to say, ‘but having your own is different, isn’t it?’”
‘My spouse’s needs were put to the side. I focused solely on my child’s needs. So, we ended up getting a divorce.’: Woman grows apart from husband after daughter’s rare genetic disorder diagnosis, enters 40s with ‘my best foot forward’
“I got married, moved to a different city, had a baby, moved back to my hometown, made new friends, lost old ones, and got divorced. I was given news that would change my life, my daughter’s life and my ex-husband’s life forever. She was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder. The expression, ‘you need to put your oxygen mask on first,’ simply does not apply. My husband and I got divorced.”
‘I’m under the impression you already know your baby is missing its left hand.’ The doctor looked mortified.’: Couple learns of daughter’s limb difference, ‘angry’ after doctor suggests termination
“I can still smell the pungent cleaner that room smelled so strongly of. My gut told me he wasn’t telling me something. I immediately saw red. Oh the tears I cried. Nothing can prepare you for news like that, nothing. I wanted to protect her. She was perfect.”
‘Am I still a virgin?’ A 13-year-old girl sits on my examination table. ‘Yes.’ She cries tears of relief.’: Child abuse pediatrician pens PSA on virginity, ‘women need to know the truth about their bodies’
“Her uncle started raping her when she was 7 years old. I tell her she’s going to be okay. I tell her WHY she’s still a virgin. ‘Rape is not the same thing as sex. Having sex WITH someone can only happen with consent. Otherwise, it’s just violence, period.’ She dries her tears, and smiles for a new beginning.”
‘When you marry a nurse, you marry their job. She gives 100% day in and day out.’: Man writes sweet tribute to nurse wife, ‘this is her calling’
“As my nurse sleeps, I quietly clean the house, do the dishes, prepare meals, do laundry. When she’s leaving, she has a clean home, clean scrubs, somewhat sane children, and a meal ready to go. 5 hours after her shift should’ve ended, she calls. I let her talk, I let her vent. She just wants to stay awake. I let her know she’s an amazing mother, nurse, wife. It’s the little things that matter. They all count.”
‘We come home empty. We don’t want to talk. The hardest work you’ll ever do is love a nurse.’: Nurse pens ‘thank you’ letter to those who ‘love us and let us do this work’
“We get up early, no time to drink coffee over the newspaper. We come home late, too tired to cook. We work extra because we know there’s sick people who need us. We miss events, holidays, birthdays. It may seem we’ve left all our caring, heart, and love at work, and come home to you empty. We probably have. But we need your understanding. We need to know you ‘get it.'”
‘She looked at me. ‘I don’t have good news.’ All I could manage was, ‘I know.’: Woman devastated after losing baby to partial molar pregnancy, only to learn pregnancy could cause cancer later
“I couldn’t look at my husband when he got home. I couldn’t look at him for days. I was so ashamed of myself, and I was terrified he would blame me for what happened to our sweet Paxton. I hid in our bedroom. One of my best friends came over unexpectedly, brought dinner, crawled in bed with me, and let me cry to her. She didn’t say much. She didn’t have to. I was angry at her for showing up, but I am so thankful that she did. My heart needed her presence.”
‘You’re not going to believe this.’ ‘Look!’ My husband squeezed my hand to comfort me.’: Woman told she lost her baby, but miraculously didn’t, ‘My baby was still there’
“She tilted her head. ‘What did they say at the hospital?’ They said the baby was gone. She looked at me, looked at my husband, and smiled. She pointed at the flicker on the screen. The slightest light, like a little firefly. ‘That right there, that little flicker is your baby’s heartbeat’. I cried. ‘That baby is a fighter, they are hanging on with everything.'”
‘Yeah. You definitely had a miscarriage.’ These words broke me. I felt guilty.’: Grieving mother encourages others to show their support, ‘She needs to know she’s loved’
“Waiting rooms and doctor’s offices remind me of her – my first baby. It didn’t feel ‘common’. It hurt. Don’t tell her ‘you’ll have another one.’ She’s trying. She needs to know it’s okay to feel.”
