I’m a long-time patient of epilepsy. Growing up, I had frequent complex partial seizures, with no idea of their root cause. It was difficult to try to explain the odd sensations, or why I’d suddenly become completely unresponsive for minutes at a time. I was often frustrated and scared, particularly when it happened in public. …
My name is Guy, and I’ve been living with Parkinson’s for most of my life. I was diagnosed at the age of ten and since then, my life has been a long battle. At first, I was devastated. I had always been a healthy and active child, and the thought of having a deadly neurological …
It was a long and painful journey, but one that I would never forget. I had been diagnosed with scleroderma, an autoimmune disorder that affects the connective tissue of the body, and I knew that I had to fight for my life. I had already tried so many different treatments, but none of them had …
I knew I was in trouble from the day I was diagnosed with familial hypertriglyceridemia. With an abnormal increase of triglyceride levels in my blood, I was told to make some serious lifestyle changes if I wanted a chance of survival. I changed my diet to one that was low in processed food, made sure …
My name is Joe, and I’m suffering from Myasthenia Gravis, a neurological disease in which the muscles become progressively weaker. It’s an autoimmune disorder, meaning that my body is actually attacking my own muscles, leaving me feeling weak and tired all the time. When I was first diagnosed, I was in disbelief. It seemed like …
My story begins with not just my name, but my diagnosis: Arrhythmia. It’s a condition with no known cause, and it’s been my companion for several years now. At first, I thought it was nothing more than a minor annoyance. But I gradually started to experience unusual symptoms. My heart would beat irregularly, faster than …
I had it all. A decent job. A loving family. A nice house. But as I got older, it seemed as if something was wrong with my legs. I noticed large, blue-purple varicose veins that seemed to be growing more and more prominent. I was oblivious to the medical term for them, but I knew …
My vision had been slipping for a few months. I initially thought it was just a problem with my eyesight, but my optometrist diagnosed me with cataracts. I was informed that cataracts was a condition in which the lenses of the eye become cloudy and cause decreased vision. I was surprised; I had no idea …
From the second I was diagnosed with ataxia, my life changed drastically. I had never heard of the condition before, so I quickly looked it up and found out that it’s an ongoing problem with physical coordination, making it difficult to do things like move, speak, and even breathe. As if that weren’t enough, I …
As I sit in my small apartment, I am overwhelmed with the thought of being a victim of Parkinson’s Disease. I always had a sneaking suspicion that I would get it; it’s not just my extreme paranoia— it’s the way the disease runs in my family. My Grandfather was one of its earliest victims and …
