Survivor Stories & Information

In August I will begin being treated by a liver specialist team and a transplant coordinator. I have a very basic understanding of my fibromyalgia but the PBC is a journey that frightens me very much. You see, in June of 2009 my mom lost her battle with non-alcohol related …

Hey, my name is Jillian and I have been fighting endometriosis for years. I am now 21 and have been diagnosed since I was 18, fighting and searching for answers since I was 15. After countless doctors appointments (over 20 different doctors) and many many tests, I finally found a …

I was 16 yrs old when I found my first lump. It took a total of a year for any doctor to make a ‘move’ to find out what it was. My first biopsy was in November of my senior year of high school. The findings were Phyllodes tumors. Which …

March of 2011 on a Sunday, I woke up with this very sharp pain in my right breast. I was trying to reach to get something from the cabinet while feeling my right breast. I felt a lump. I ran upstairs and felt my left breast. I felt another lump. …

After several years of one struggle after another, two abusive marriages, one physical and one emotional, and suffering with the pain of fibromyalgia, I had entered into a new relationship and wanted a fresh start with life. I went in for my first mammogram at the age of 49. This …

My name is Michelle and I am 38 years old. I lost my mother to cancer (mesothelioma – caused by asbestos exposure) on August 16, 1998, 2 days after my 25th birthday,  when she was just 50 years old. Then, on August 26, 2011, two weeks after my 38th birthday, …

My name is Ann Robison. I’m currently 19, but was diagnosed with my ‘speed bumps’ when I was in 8th grade. What, you may ask, are speed bumps? I don’t like the word disease. I feel like using the word ‘disease’ makes it easier for people to discriminate; where as …

My name is Kathie, and I am 57-years-old. I am a mother, a grandmother, a daughter, a sister, and an aunt. I am also living with an incurable disease called  autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). When I was 49 I was blindsided by the diagnosis. This is what I have …

My name is Melanie and this year I turned 31. I have suffered with endometriosis since I was 13 years old. Of course, it wasn’t diagnosed until 7 years later. I spent at least 3 days every month home from school in bed and in tears, not knowing or understanding …

Hello, my name is Jennifer Todd, I am 32-years-old and the mother of two wonderful children; a boy who is 9 and a girl who is 12. When I was 19, I was diagnosed with endometriosis.  It took me a long time to conceive my daughter, and endometriosis was the reason why. …