I am often asked if I get tired of telling my story…the answer is no.  Each time there is a different perspective to view it from, different lessons to learn from it, and new words to describe it.  But most importantly, someone is hearing it for the first time, making me feel as though I’m sharing it for the first time.  Despite the multitude of times I’ve told it, I always seem to have difficulties pinpointing where to begin- I cannot remember when and how I began feeling ill.  It seemed somewhere in my conscience, I knew that my incessant coughing, sickly complexion, and unimaginable fatigue was something greater than the everyday ailments my doctor diagnosed me with.  It was the fall of 2007…I grimaced as another needle drew another blood sample for what I was certain would be another misdiagnosis.  The initial hope of being diagnosed with something “easy to fix” morphed into desperation for simply a diagnosis.  Some nights I would lie in bed, fearing that I had … [Read more...]