“I’d drive my car to the river and sit there, thinking about how long it would take to break through the ice. I just wanted to leave this world. I never shared this with anyone.”
‘I sat in my mom’s kitchen, bawling. She was the first person brave enough to say, ‘You need to talk to a doctor.’: Mom shares journey with postpartum depression
‘I had a once in a lifetime, freak emergency. When I tell doctors what happened, they don’t believe me.’: Chronic illness warrior urges ‘hold on to joy’
“I had severe pain on my right side that wouldn’t go away. I was taken to the ICU, where the fight of my life began. I was hospitalized for over 40 days while they tried to save me.”
‘When I told him, his response was, ‘And I could get hit by a bus.’ None of us know what the future holds.’: Woman with rare disorder lives with intention
“I’ll never forget having my whole life ahead of me one day and the next, being told, ‘There’s no cure. Your life expectancy is 5-10 years.’ I was scared and alone.”
‘I meet her in a stark waiting room. Her eyes settle on her newborn in the car seat I’m carrying.’: Woman shares relationship with son’s birth mom
“The nurse smiles, ‘Congratulations.’ A sick feeling fills my stomach, and I think of his birth mom. I pray he’ll never have to wonder who she is.”
‘There’s no telling when it will be the last time he needs me.’: Mom urges ‘savor and soak in’ early stages of motherhood
“I don’t want to miss it.”
‘I won’t raise my hand too high because it might upset somebody.’ I picked apart my every move.’: Woman with anxiety advocates for mental heath
“How could the president of a mental health awareness club struggle with her own mental health? I finally ran out of options.”
‘I stood in my kitchen in stunned silence. My boyfriend mopped up the blood.’: Woman diagnosed with rare autoimmune disease
“My face was the size of a jackfruit. I gasped for breath simply walking down a hall. The inflammation was so extreme the imaging was obscured by a sea of white, caused by bleeding in my skull.”
‘My weight, my sexuality, and my autism don’t define me. I do.’ Self-love advocate urges ‘be unapologetically you’
“It took me a long time to learn to love myself, but I finally know how.”
‘I picked up a pair of clippers, counted to three, and shaved it off. ‘There’s no going back now.’: Woman with hair loss urges ‘your hair doesn’t define you’
“I’d find people to do extensions that weren’t pricey salons. I found myself in people’s homes, mall salons, random back rooms at shops—you name it, I’ve probably been there. It was time to let my hair go.”
‘She’s just shy,’ they said. ‘She’ll grow out of it.’ All my life I felt like a misfit.’: Mom diagnosed with autism after son’s diagnosis
“I began to notice similarities between my son’s struggles and my own. Things that triggered him also triggered me. I had meltdowns just like he has meltdowns. I felt SEEN for the first time.”