“I was training hard and eating healthy, but still gaining weight. My instructor told my mom I was ‘fat.’ Something in my body was wrong. A few months later, I’d be in the ICU fighting for my life.”
‘You need to go to the ER immediately.’ I felt like my body was failing me. I continued to hide my condition until I almost DIED.’: Ballerina with diabetes shares acceptance journey, ‘Keep fighting’
‘Prepare yourselves for the worst.’ They didn’t want press getting the news. I was coughing up pints of blood.’: Woman survives meningitis, ‘I am one of the lucky ones’
“’She probably won’t survive the night.’ I couldn’t understand why my parents weren’t protecting me.”
‘I’m not sure how it was missed. It’s SEVERE.’ How had it happened? I looked at my baby covered in tubes and wires.’: Mom births baby with rare congenital heart defect, ‘She’s our warrior’
“I grieved my daughter and prepared for the worst. Ava’s lips and tongue were slowly looking bluer, followed by her fingers. The memory will never leave me.”
‘A guardian angel called 9-1-1 as I convulsed in a coffee shop parking lot. At 18, I’d lost 20 jobs and been arrested 14 times.’: Man 13-years sober after long battle with addiction, ‘We’re not meant to live in darkness’
“As I lay in the ICU, I could see my mom raging in disappointment and agony as she tried to explain the situation to her colleagues. Where was the little boy she used to sing with? The little boy who helped bake cookies for Santa and colored Easter eggs? My life had spiraled out of control.”
‘This is a mistake! She CAN’T be mine.’ I turned everyone away from the hospital. I thought I ruined our lives.’: Special needs mom details Down syndrome journey
“My vision of perfection vanished and I felt disconnected. It was painful to say the words. But it had been her all along.”
‘Something’s happened to Drew. We were on our way to the park.’ I thought, ‘He’ll be OK.’ I had to keep my promise to him.’: Woman with CHD becomes advocate after losing nephew to disease
“The doctor said, ‘Time to pray.’ She’d never seen so many tubes in such a little body. They filled with blood. ‘We’re having a problem.’”
‘He got down on one knee. Weeks later we were told, ‘He has 6 months or less to live. You have to move your wedding date.’ The cancer was spreading astronomically.’: Woman marries love of her life before his passing, ‘There wasn’t a dry eye’
“10 short days after he asked me to be his girlfriend, Josh was told the 3 words nobody ever wants to hear: ‘You have cancer.’ He told me it was okay to walk away, that he wouldn’t think any less of me. This was something I didn’t sign up for. The first words out of my mouth were, ‘You’re not getting rid of me that easily.’ I’d waited 27 years of my life to find a love like this.”
‘She may not survive surgery.’ For 9 days, her chest remained open. She wasn’t the baby I expected.’: Mom has photo shoot in ICU before preemie passes to ‘make each day beautiful’
“Her body was too small to close over her swollen heart. Piles of machinery overwhelmed her metal crib. I hesitantly brought a small box into the ICU. Inside was a blanket and matching hair bow. I was shocked by how stunning she looked.”
‘What are you doing, baby?’ I resuscitated him, and we kept going. The neurologists’ faces looked bleak.’: Mom brings son with Ohtahara Syndrome home after months in hospital
“Tate was having some seizure activity. ‘He’s not going to get better.’ I crumbled all over again with strangers and secretaries staring at me. ‘Anyone else would be driving as fast as they could towards a hospital, and you guys are driving as fast as you can away from it.’”
‘In the middle of the night, the doctor said, ‘Ma’am, your husband needs emergency surgery right away.’ I was shaking uncontrollably.’: Couple embrace child-free life after near-death infertility surgery
“I was afraid to touch my husband. Nothing could prepare me for seeing my life partner, my love, on a ventilator because of how desperately I wanted to have a baby. This surgery was supposed to ‘help’ us.”
