Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Between sophomore and junior year of college, Cheryl’s world turned upside down as she began to feel mysteriously unwell. She started losing weight at a frightening rate, getting down to 105 pounds. Her doctors refused to believe that she was ill, going so far as to call Cheryl’s parents and Read more…

Living with Nontraumatic Spinal Cord Injury and Sjogren’s Syndrome

Towards the end of 2020 Nic’s life took a bizarre turn. He had been a healthy father who enjoyed helping others as an EMT, but suddenly found himself in the midst of his own medical trauma. He started experiencing mysterious weakness and numbness in his legs, soon finding himself unable Read more…

Living with Erb’s Palsy

On the day she was born, Favor suffered an injury that would have permanent repercussions on her life. Her brachial plexus was damaged during birth, causing a condition called Erb’s palsy. The brachial plexus is a network of nerves in the shoulder that carries sensory information from the spinal cord Read more…

Living with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Andrew has struggled his entire life to understand his own mind. He developed learning disabilities as a child, and as an adult was diagnosed with mental health conditions like ADD, anxiety and depression, but the treatments proved ineffective. Dissatisfied with these diagnoses and the direction of his care, Andrew began Read more…

Living with Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Kelcie’s life has been frustratingly intertwined with her chronic pain journey. She was originally diagnosed with palindromic rheumatism in her late teens, which would eventually progress into rheumatoid arthritis. In her late 20s she slowly began to experience mysterious widespread pain, accompanied by exhaustion and brain fog. Being diagnosed with Read more…

Living with Chronic Migraines, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and More

India is a retired nurse living with a complicated collection of health conditions. She was born with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome that went undiagnosed most of her life, and has experienced several related comorbidities including bronchiectasis. Her pain situation reached a fever pitch due to a Chiari malformation, where part of Read more…

Living with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome)

Michelle has always known that something in her body wasn’t functioning correctly. Throughout her childhood she sought help from her parents and doctors, but was told over and over that her symptoms weren’t real or serious. It wasn’t until her late 20s that Michelle was finally diagnosed with POTS, or Read more…

Accessible Recreation at Achieve Tahoe

Achieve Tahoe is a nonprofit organization offering year-round outdoor recreation activities for people with cognitive, sensory, and physical disabilities. They offer a wide variety of accessible activities including snowsports, water skiing, hiking, archery, climbing, equestrian skills, paddle sports and sailing. Their goal is to make these activities available to people Read more…

Born Positive: Living with HIV since Birth

Joseph Kibler is a 32 year old actor and writer who was born HIV positive. As a baby he wasn’t expected to live past 4 years old, but an experimental drug trial run by Dr. Fauci in the 80s gave him the chance to thrive. The virus altered the gray Read more…

Fighting Medical Gaslighting while Living with Chronic Illness

Aimée has been experiencing chronic pain and increasingly debilitating neurological symptoms throughout her life. She was first diagnosed with fibromyalgia at just 12 years old, at a time when that diagnosis carried little to no actionable recourse and significant stigma. Due to a lack of helpful doctors in the face Read more…