“I took my otherwise healthy daughter to the ER for lethargy and a high fever. As I watched her rest, I heard beeping and babies crying for hours straight. I saw mamas pacing every open space. Thing is, we don’t always acknowledge the mamas who do this every day.”
‘Your baby doesn’t go home with a quick fix prescription. You know every inch of the hospital. Life can’t resume as normal.’: Mom pens appreciation letter for ‘mamas of very sick kids’
‘I don’t know who I am.’ I struggled with feeling depressed and hopeless. All my dreams died.’: Man diagnosed with Friedreich’s Ataxia raises awareness, ‘I want to encourage people’
“I had more and more difficulties performing physical functions. I couldn’t keep my balance. ‘Maybe I had too many concussions.’ I felt defeated thinking about all the things I wouldn’t be able to do with my wife and kids.”
‘I vomited in a bush from pain. I was told your 20’s are the best years of your life but I was watching them go by.’: Woman with ACNES syndrome starts fashion blog. You can still be YOU’
“I was sweating profusely and vomited in a bush from the pain. I was too young to get sick! I’d always been told your 20’s are the best years of your life but I was just watching them go by from my bed.”
‘The doctor said, ‘Not to worry. It’s just the flu.’ His throat started fluttering. They worked feverishly on his little body. I couldn’t watch.’: Mom urges ‘we need to do better’ after losing son to flu
“I looked at the nurse with tears in my eyes. ‘That little boy is the only one I have.’ His eyes rolled back. The physician started sobbing. I held up my hand to push her away. ‘I need you to come in here. I need you to talk to your son.’ I took Joseph’s hand, looked into his beautiful face, and begged him to stay. ‘He’s going to just wake up. He’s going to wake up, and we’ll go home.'”
‘I see blood on me, but from where?! It’s 2:15 a.m. now, and I’m crying in the bathroom. I don’t like hurting out loud. What was this doing to us?’: Woman struggles with ‘mental hurricane’ during undiagnosed illness
“I’m scared.’ I shook and started crying from the sharp pains. My hand cramped up; I couldn’t open it anymore. ‘I’m here, and I got this, and I got you.'”
‘My mother and stepdad sent me with a strange man in the middle of the night. ‘Was I traded for drugs?’ I was ten years old.’: Woman overcomes childhood trauma and rape, ‘I learned the power of letting go’
“As I threw the rock into the river, I said, ‘I forgive you,’ letting go of all the pain and resentment I had been carrying. Don’t get me wrong… the people who abused me in my past, who were supposed to care for me and protect me, did NOT deserve my forgiveness.”
‘My shortness of breath got worse. Then came the fever and cough. I was told at the ER, ‘You have lung damage.’ I finally broke down and cried.’: Mom struggling to recover from COVID-19 pleads ‘please don’t underestimate how horrible this illness is’
“Out of nowhere I got VERY sick this afternoon, so my husband sent my butt to the ER. When you’re sick you want your mama, your sister, your brother, your dad, your friends. You want your support system. I finally broke down and cried.”
‘She said, ‘It’s your dad. There’s something wrong. The cops said they found him on the ground.’ We still had so many questions.’: Woman details life with drug-addicted father, ‘I’m not mad at you’
“‘You need to stop what you’re doing or you’ll end up dead.’ I’d see him drive by with another woman. When my mom decided to divorce him, he didn’t show up. We stood at the court house and looked out the window from the top floor. The doctor approached my brother and I. ‘You have to make a decision to let him off the machines.’ We still had so many questions.”
‘Kerri, get a grip!’ the doctor said. I could only take Tylenol after surgery. I was sure I was going to die.’: Woman with arthrogryposis muscle disorder says ‘nothing is impossible with a fighter’s soul’
“I looked like a pretzel, but my mom wasn’t able to hold me for hours. Doctors started discussing ‘options.’ They told her I wouldn’t be able to do much. They said I would be better off if my parents decided to sign me over to the state. My mom immediately asked to be transferred.”
‘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.”
