My life has been riddled with tragedy since I was four and lost both my parents. When my grandfather died when I was 12 I fell into a depression and started losing weight. Over the next two years I lost 20 lbs and started having sever pain in all my …
Read More »Yearly Archives: 2013
Jessica’s Story (Breast Cancer)
I found a lump just days before my 27th birthday. I went to the doctors and she told me she was 98% sure it was not cancer. I was so young. With a needle biopsy and then a lumpectomy I was told that I had stage 3 breast cancer, at …
Read More »Amanda’s Story (Retinoblastoma, Osteosarcoma, Head & Neck Cancer)
My name is Amanda Presley. I am 32 years old. I was born with bilateral retinoblastoma. I had my left eye removed at six weeks of age. I underwent two years of chemo and 30 rounds of radiation. I was in remission! At 12 years of age, I found a …
Read More »Samantha’s Story (EDS)
My name is Samantha and I’m currently 20 years old. I first started having joint problems in 2003. It started with my knees (both of them). Doctors weren’t to sure what was happening. I started physical therapy. My knee problems continued. The problems soon went to my feet and ankles. …
Read More »Saartjie’s Story (Endometriosis)
So I never knew that I had this disease. I always had the worst pain when I got my period but I just thought it was normal. I’m 25 years old and I decided it was time to go for my first gyno checkup. I thought everything was normal and …
Read More »Anne’s Fight Like a Girl Story (Mitochondrial Disease)
Looking back my symptoms were coming on slowly. But after I became ill with mononucleosis at the age of 40, I’ve never recovered. After several years of no real answers from my family practitioner or neurologist, I made myself an appointment at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. There through a …
Read More »Jenna’s Story (Hepatitis C)
In 2007, I went to my physician for some routine blood tests. About a week later i received a document in the mail from the health department stating that I had tested positive for HCV. At the time I wasn’t sure what hepatitis C was or how I had it. …
Read More »Ashley’s Story (Aplastic Anemia)
In November 2011, around Thanksgiving, I was sent straight to the hospital after my first blood test ever at age 13. My blood counts were very low, my platelets were three (normal is 140-450), my hemoglobin was less than eight (normal is 12-14), and my white blood was very low …
Read More »Kate’s Story (Anxiety, Depression, Obesity)
I have lived most of my life in fear and anxiety. I was afraid to do anything that I may get hurt at, afraid to meet new people, and afraid to be myself. I had been overweight ever since I was five years old and was severely bullied because of …
Read More »Tiffanie’s Story (Breast Cancer)
At the age of 26 you never think that breast cancer could ever apply to you. But it happened. It happened to me! A pain in my arm that continued to get worse forced me to go to the ER. An X-Ray showed a tumor in my arm. The doctors …
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