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♿ A few years ago I was a victim of an accidental shooting. I was shot by a police officer during a shootout. It happens that my spinal cord was hit in the T12 region of the spine. This resulted in me being paraplegic and getting used to living in a wheelchair. Today I moved and I live alone in another state far from my hometown. Sometimes life hits you hard, but anything is possible. You must find the will to move forward.

The Persistence of Happiness Since middle school I’ve struggled with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS /ME), Post Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), and multiple chemical/metal sensitivities likely brought on by a combination of 13 metal fillings, metal braces, and a virus at the end of 5th grade that permanently sapped my energy. Despite, or more likely because of my chronic deficit of resources, I have made a point of truly enjoying the moments when I’m well enough to function and when I’m not, I find ways to make the best of those times too. One of my happiest memories growing up was my last day of middle school when my friends all rollerbladed to my house from school, pushing me into a wheelchair because I was too weak to walk. I have had a lot of invaluable moments with amazing, supportive friends since then, but that image always reminds me how committed I have been to navigating ways to sustain my happiness. Since my initial diagnosis, I have added Neurosarcoidosis, Optic Neuritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Avascular Necrosis to my chronic illness roster. Many days I don’t have the energy or I’m in too much pain to leave the house, so I started an Instagram account, #sickandstylish, where I could create and share positivity and happiness through fun and comfortable styles and funny thoughts, and provide information about my illnesses to help others struggling. I hope my outreach help brighten someone else’s day whether or not they are dealing with illness. We could all use a boost🌞. #chronicillness #sickandstylish#chronicfatiguesyndrome #CFS #myalgicencephalomyelitis #sarcoidosis #neurosarcoidosis #immunocompromised #opticneuritis #avascularnecrosis #recuperation #persistence #happiness #positivity #patience #healing #styleheals

Crohn's Hi everyone! I’m Jen, I have an autoimmune disease called Crohn’s. I was misdiagnosed in 2019 with Ulcerative Colitis, In the middle of this year I was able to get the proper diagnosis: Crohn’s. Since being diagnosed my world has changed, I’ve never experienced anything like this. I went from visiting the doctor maybe once a year, to multiple times a month. I have bought multiple books, read a lot of articles, and taken so many notes on Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis. After implementing different eating habits, a morning routine, and many other things, a lot changed for the better. Since then I have become a chronic illness life coach, I am determined to show others with chronic illness that there is more to life. In the beginning, I allowed myself to become my illness. I now work with my illness, not against it and I show others how to do the same. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out and DM me. I want to leave you with one of my favorite quotes, “This illness is not me. It may be part of my story, but it will never be strong enough to define me.” -Hannah Bowers

We've got another fight again For a moment it was very quiet. We held each other so tightly, No words for a moment, just two souls in silence. A day after my boyfriend's second heart surgery, I was diagnosed with MS. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body. Eventually, the disease can cause permanent damage or deterioration of the nerves. It was summer 2017 and I only went to the neurologist for the results, not knowing that I would get a diagnosis. I had been in the mill for 3 years and was used to being sent home again. My first conversation with the neurologist was not pleasant at all. Because I had been in research for 3 years, he immediately threw it on the psychic side. He said that I had to drink alcohol for my trembling legs and think about a clinic for psychological treatment. I could no longer find the words, it made me silent, it touched my soul and it also made me doubt very much, is it really between my ears? As I started to think about it, I kept believing in myself. After all, in three years nothing has been done more than a simple blood test. The neurologist did not ask which specialists I saw and what kind of research I had during the conversation. He only judged because he heard that I had been under research for 3 years. I was half an hour early, and the neurologist saw me and called me right away. I thought it was strange, the waiting room was full, and asked if he had made a mistake because I was too early. “These people can wait a while,” he said. It gave me a gut feeling and my heart raced. Just as he immediately told me last time that I should have a drink and think about a clinic, he was so direct with his statement of the research. “I have bad news.” He looked at me intently. “I did not expect it, but you have Multiple Sclerosis, it is obvious.” I went silent for a moment, all I thought about was, oh my gosh. I have a heart patient to care for at home. I just lost my job, how can I get back on track as soon as possible because my boyfriend can't work anymore? He saw that I was dreaming away and asked what was wrong. I told him that my partner had an angioplasty for the second time yesterday. He looked at me, I'm sorry I wasn't so kind last time and that I judged you without listening to you. Your MRI shows a lot of damage, we can see that you've been running with it for a while and that it's now active. I assumed that you had a lot of tests in the three years, but looking back I only see blood tests. I looked at him, accepted his apology, and told him to fix me up quickly because I have a heart patient to care for at home. My boyfriend was still sleeping well, recovering from the angioplasty. On the way home I was in doubt, what should I do, he just had surgery for the second time on his heart and then you have to tell him that you have MS. Thinking back on what we've all been through, we shared many joys but also infertility, myocardial infarction, two angioplasty operations, and now MS. Two young people in their 30s should have careers, a families, not this! What a rollercoaster. I can still hear his cardiologist say in the back of my mind, “It is the way it is”, I grabbed my mobile and called him. He could already hear it from my voice that it wasn't right. Once home, he took me in his arms, we held each other intensely, with no words, just the silence. I am now a few years further, unfortunately, the MS is progressive and I am getting worse. Despite that, I try to enjoy life and write poems and quotes about being chronically ill. You can find me on Instagram under the name @msdiva_ms I write in both Dutch and English. We must enjoy every day that is given to us, for no one is promised tomorrow.

A Little About Amazingly Ava Ava is a smiley 2.5-year-old little girl who was born in June 2019. Her father Anthony is a United States Marine Corps veteran, and her mother Lauren is a licensed marriage and family therapist. She was diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic mutation called COL4A1, or Gould Syndrome, which causes strokes in utero– there are fewer than approximately 300-400 known cases worldwide. Ava has also since been diagnosed with Microcephaly, Cerebral Palsy, Focal Epilepsy, Gastroparesis, feeding difficulties, farsightedness and global developmental delays as a result of Gould Syndrome. Gould Syndrome affects the collagen making up various organs in the body, including the brain, blood vessels, eyes, kidney, lungs, heart and liver. Ava has already done so many things we were told she would likely never do! She loves walking, dancing, blankets, the color blue, water in general, being outside, strawberry, chocolate, fruit, spaghetti, man n cheese, trying new foods, babies, ALL people, her furry friends, Care Bears, toy vacuum cleaners, bubbles, communicating by various methods (signing, pointing, laughing, talking) and so much more! We first began our journey when Ava's pediatrician noticed her right pupil was larger than the left, then again when Ava's head wasn't growing at the proper rate and not at all on the charts. Consequently, Ava saw a neurologist, had an MRI and was officially diagnosed with Microcephaly. Since then, in order to be properly diagnosed and cared for she has seen pediatrics, neurology, neurosurgery, infectious diseases, cardiology, nephrology, pulmonology, genetics, developmental medicine, rehab medicine,ophthalmology, audiology, gastroenterology, allergy, nutrition, prosthetics, and more. She currently has weekly physical therapy, occupational therapy, feeding therapy, speech therapy and play therapy (early childhood education). It is our hope that Ava can serve as a pillar of hope, motivation and inspiration for all!

Early days Elliot had a very traumatic birth resulting in him suffering a severe brain injury and consequentially many diagnoses along the way umbrellaed by Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy. After birth, he was immediately transferred for cooling therapy (where the brain is cooled to slow the process of brain damage). Our little miracle Elliot is now just over 2.5 years old, and despite all his challenges his determination to succeed burns so bright, he is funny, intelligent, and courageous and his bursts of happiness give us strength and love like no other. No child should ever have the start in life that Elliot has had but we are here now and thriving. Daily life Everyday Elliot has therapy whether that be carried out by us or therapists, he has daily medical appointments, his diary is more chaotic than anything we have experienced. Whilst we navigate through this world that isn’t adapted for disability, we will do what we can to make the changes, we will strive to make Elliot’s life as wholesome, accessible, and inclusive as possible. In summary He is - quite simply put - incredible, he never gives up and nothing is off-limits for him. He is a warrior. @diaryofacoolingkid

Cerebral Palsy I am very blessed to be here and tell you a little bit about my journey. My name is Lucy Ramirez. I am thirty years old and I was born with Cerebral Palsy. Cerebral Palsy has four main types: Spastic Cerebral Palsy (which is the most common), Spastic Diplegia / Diparesis, Spastic Quadriplegia / Quadriparesis, Spastic Hemiplegia / Hemiparesis. The type of Cerebral Palsy that I was diagnosed with at birth is called Spastic diplegia. Spastic diplegia affects the arms and legs making the joints stiff and contract which causes spasms. In most cases of Spastic diplegia, the legs are the most affected more so than the arms. My Journey Of Life During labor, my body did not produce enough oxygen to go to my brain which caused me to have Cerebral Palsy. Being a premature baby and my low weight were both factors in this diagnosis. I weighed one pound six ounces and had to be in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for several months until my parents were able to take me home. It was not an easy process having a newborn at the hospital while having a toddler back at home. Since birth, I have encountered many obstacles. The doctors only thought I had seventy- two hours to live; they advised my parents to be prepared for the worst. Despite their prognosis, my parents put their faith and my life in the hands of the Lord because he had the last say. Thirty years later I am still here standing. At the age of five, they told my parents that I would be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life but once again I proved them wrong. With the help of physical and occupational therapy over the years I was able to become more independent. As the years went by I started to become fully independent in many aspects of my life. I might need assistance to do certain things but not in the same ways as before. The process was not easy but I was determined to make it happen. I believed in myself because I knew I had the courage and the strength to do so. Although the obstacles that I encountered were not easy I would not trade any of those moments for anything they have shaped me to be the person I am today. They have made me resilient and strong. I know that I have the power to overcome anything. My Team Thanks to my amazing family, friends, and medical staff who are my biggest supporters and encouraged me to never give up and that anything in life is possible regardless of your circumstances. My Aspiration My mission is to spread awareness about Cerebral Palsy and to teach others that having a disability is not an obstacle for us. We may complete tasks differently but we get them done too, just given a chance to demonstrate what we are capable of doing. This is my story. I hope to encourage others to go out of their way and inspire someone with their story! If they tell you it is impossible, it is impossible for THEM, not YOU! Xoxo Lucy 💕

The Beginning There's no name for what I have. No neat little box that my doctors put me in to explain what's wrong. Instead, I have lots of little things that add up to a bit of a s**t show. Five years ago I had to have an emergency Lumbar Puncture. For those of you who don't know, that's a huge needle stuck in your lower spine to extract brain fluid. It went terribly wrong with them going too low, too deep, too many times. The following 18 months couldn't have been written bleaker: my life went down the toilet, the job I loved suffered, and I spent nearly all of my time at the doctors complaining of a number of symptoms they just couldn't make sense of. It was one of those classic, "You've got some spinal trauma, it'll just take time to get over it" situations. Fast forward to March 2018 and my Bladder stopped working entirely. I visited A&E three times in a week just so I could have a wee. They rushed through a referral to the Urology Department at Guys' hospital, stuck a Urethral Catheter in me and sent me on my way. After we'd ruled out anything really, REALLY scary we found out that the doctors who performed my Spinal Tap had actually ripped through my Sacral Nerve. The eighteen months I went without anybody listening to me meant from the waist down, my body just broke down. Spinal trauma; untold pelvic nerve damage; huge muscle damage; and, the icing on the cake, the bladder of someone who was basically dead. Pain became my companion. Wetting myself through my catheter became commonplace (rather comically, about a month after I had my catheter fitted I decided to wear a white jumpsuit out for my husbands' birthday... we can probably all imagine how that went). 12 weekly operations were a new way of life because my body refused to accept anything they put in me. Wires attached to my spine became my new accessories. My right leg decided to pack up shop and, as much as I held out, I eventually needed a walking stick. The Middle Getting used to being newly Disabled was something I refused to do. This wasn't me. I wasn't Disabled. I was 27 years old. I refused to live the life of somebody who couldn't quite keep up and burned myself into the ground. Emergency hospital visits were commonplace in those first 12 months. I'd crawl around my house, screaming in agony, unable to fathom how to make my body work for its new normal. We'd arrive and it would take doctors exactly 2.8 seconds to hook my up to a Fentaynl drip and then we'd head home, me absolutely off my nut and wanting to visit every shop we passed (this hasn't actually changed, although we now pass through London Bridge Station and Paperchase is always my go to). Eventually, my doctors told me there was nothing that could be done to help me. Morphine became the way I got out of bed in the morning. Deep, scary conversations about how our lives would always be this kind of terrible ensued between my Husband and I. We didn't mention having children in those early months even though, after 8 years together, we both knew we'd need to face that question eventually. But we muddled through. A small outing here, a week off my feet there. Preparation for operations. Just adjusting. Just surviving. Just keeping our heads above water. The Now I'm not sure when things changed. I'm not sure when it clicked that just because I had something wrong with me didn't mean my life had to stop. But it did. It didn't happen overnight, these things take time to get used too. Slowly, I'd push myself a little more. I'd go a little further from home. I'd try to sleep a little less. I'd force myself to not rely so heavily on pain medication. If I was stuck like this, I needed to find a way to cope. And I do. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I do still crawl around my house screaming in agony. But other times I don't. I'll go out alone. I'll take it slow. I'll listen to my body and accept my limits. But that doesn't mean I can't do me. I just do me in a different way.

Syncope I first experienced syncope when I was 16 after standing for 15 minutes. I continued to faint after standing for periods of time about once a month. Syncope from positional changes developed, but I kept pushing through as I was told to do. I rode horses everyday, swam on the swim team, started learning how to dive all while hiding my disability. Sometimes people would see me losing consciousness, but they just wrote it off. In 2017, after years of mild symptoms, my symptoms increased and I started fainting more frequently. In addition to those symptoms, I started experiencing chronic fatigue, stomach problems, neurological problems, and body aches to name a few. I started using a wheelchair on bad days and trained a service dog to alert, pick up and retrieve, guide, and many other things. I continued to experience these new symptoms, but was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which explained the syncope and dizziness. In 2019 I started experiencing syncope on a daily basis and started using a wheelchair full time. I recently was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis, which explains the other symptoms. My conditions are best managed with help from a service dog and wheelchair. I'm 26 and am still getting diagnosed. Childhood signs of autism I had dealt with depression since I was little, and not getting along with other kids didn't help. I was the last one picked for teams, I had one friend and was constantly bullied. Parents, teachers and other adults were all oblivious to my struggles, often hiding them to simplify their own life and make themselves look good. I was in detention all the time for things like not wearing a dress on Friday or having to go to the bathroom. I'm currently seeking a diagnosis as I've realized I am autistic and found that my elementary school erased all traces of me struggling to get along. This doesn't help me, it hurts me. But it makes them look good, right? Now I deal with mental health problems and doctors have said it's from trauma. Now Now I stimmed freely, use a binkey for sensory reasons, avoid eye contact with strangers and wear sensory friendly clothes. I have noticed that I've displayed autistic traits my whole life. I also collect tiny things and love Disney. I am a model and Gamut is my management company. I am currently working on finishing my bachelor's degree in biology. My goal is to train service dogs for other people using my degree.

About me Hi, my name is Gerald. I have cerebral palsy, I live to the max, I am single, I like sports, music, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and I love Ibiza and music. I live in my own flat, drop me a msg on insta, etc to get to know me.

Building a kinder world now Hi, my name is Shaina Shishler and I'm a six-year-old super-rare kid, because I have a super-rare condition called BPAN. I live with my family in Johannesburg, South Africa. Between 2017 and 2018, I had a series of life-threatening seizures. I spent too much time in hospitals, including a week on life support. In 2019, I was diagnosed with BPAN, which is an ultra-rare neurodegenerative condition. The diagnosis came as a huge shock to my family, who have to deal with all kinds of daily challenges that I face. I speak very little, but I LOVE to laugh, sing and dance. Somehow, without saying much, I bring out kindness in everyone I meet- even total strangers. That inspired my parents and siblings to start a special kindness campaign for me to encourage people to share acts of kindness. We've just started, but it's really exciting and very inspiring to see people get involved. We'd love you to participate too. Please share your #kindnessmoments with my special hashtag #akinderworldnow. Thank you!!

Ben’s story Ben has cerebral palsy & autism. In 2014 we raised £60k to get Ben to America for life-changing surgery!! His ability is improving daily but fundraising is ongoing to ensure Ben has all the physio he needs! He’s such a funny, affectionate, unique kid who we love with our everything & will continue to do our utmost for him 💚