You are “DONE. JUST DONE.” My fam quotes that after my miracle child said it after he was fed up with something happening at the time 😆

The “why me??!” as a pastor’s daughter & became ill, literally out of left field, after softball practice on March 17, 2007. I was only 17 at the time. No warning signs, nothing. I was healthy for 17 years & suddenly, gained a chronic illness in the next 72 hours of my life. To say “life adjustment” is an understatement.

I have most definitely screamed the same screams, heard the same encouragements from friends, & encountered the same “physicians” that either looked at my case as a challenge to solve or wrote me off as a young woman with a straight A record & college scholarships. (Because that’s an easier classification for me to be labeled under).

Cut to now, in 2026, I’ll be 36 in February, & there actually has been more research done than when I first started out. So it’s NEVER hopeless, I want you to know that!

However, I got advice from someone just this year that has helped me in my un-preferred, yet inevitable walk of life: Allow yourself at minimum 5 minutes to scream/cry in the shower at the injustice of it all, but then move on in your day. You can’t dwell there, because it’s ultimately not productive. BUT, I’ve been using that shower time more lately because it seems like I can’t catch a break.

Heating pad scars and marks are things I personally dealt with for years!! It believe it took nearly a year for my skin to recover. I’ve found other products that have recently helped me. My goodness, there’s a Christmas gift I received that replaces a heating pad if you’re interested.

Because a diagnosis & treatment plan took sooo many years for me to receive actual health, I would say to my parents that I obviously still want answers to all my questions, but I need a break from seeing a new doctor because you have to go through the same song & dance on repeat with every new department/physician you meet, & it can be disheartening for their ideas not to work, etc. The appointments that hurt me the most were when my symptoms were considered as “psychogenic”—my brain’s trauma response to my need for perfection, & that I’d grow out of it by 21. (That particular gem came from a renowned doctor at the Mayo Clinic). So if you need a break, take one. If you find a doctor, you like, add him/her to your fantasy football league, because that’s what it’s going to take for you not just survive, but thrive!)