A Life-Changing Experience With Raynaud's Illness

This past summer changed my life. My health was more substantial in the past three months than it has been my entire life. Cancer is something that impacts everyone's life in one way or another, and this summer it was my own personal experience. Something that I never thought would happen to me did. After finding a lump on my neck I proceeded to go to the doctor expecting to be diagnosed with mono or some other flu like sickness. But after seeing the concerned look on my doctors face I quickly realized that it wasn't simply mono. A biopsy was ordered after countless inconclusive tests. The chairman of radiologist told me and my family that he was 95% sure that the swollen lymph node on my neck was cancer. After a long 4 days not knowing what the true results were I lie awake at night thinking about what the rest of my life will look like. Things that I have never thought about crossed my mind like: Can I have children? These 4 days was by far the longest of my life. I could not stop my mind from racing: Will I be able to graduate from high school? These four days I changed everything about the way that I acted. I spend less time on my cell phone and more time outside by the lake feeling the

My new illness completely flipped my world upside down. I went from being a three season athlete to not being able to play any sports at all due to my inflamed and sore joints. The pain often made it hard for me to go to school, which resulted in me falling behind in many classes. I struggled with the fact that this disease had completely changed everything and that I would carry it with me for the rest of my life. After letting this illness get the best of me for a few months, I finally realized that I needed to accept my diagnosis and start

Few people are aware of Raynaud's disease even though it is a fairly common condition. Raynaulds Disease is also referred to as Raynauld’s phenonmenon. Raynaud's is a condition in which cold temperatures or stress cause blood vessel spasms that block blood flow to fingers, toes, nose, and ears. This causes these body parts to suddenly turn ice cold and to become a purple or blue color. Later when the blood flow becomes normal the area turns a reddish color and later returns to normal. There are two types of Raynaud's Disease, primary Raynaud's disease and secondary Raynaud's disease. Primary Raynaud's is when a person has no other cause or condition. Secondary Raynaud's is when there is another condition that

From ages 6 to 12, I suffered from epilepsy, contributing to my phobia of public places and anxiety. At 14, I was diagnosed with severe scoliosis and needed corrective surgery, which still affects my back to this day. From age 13 to now, I have experienced (in order) gastritis, gallstones, pancreatitis, gallbladder removal and have been diagnosed with a genetic mutation in my liver that causes stones to form. Needless to say, this has affected my diet and requires me to take medication. I have been hospitalized many times for treatment of my illnesses, the longest and most excruciating being three weeks for pancreatitis. Everyday, I wonder what it would’ve been like to have grown up healthy and lived without the constant stresses my conditions put on my body, my mind, and my family. As I got older, I only developed more problems as my personal life took a bad turn. The transition from one school to another in the eighth grade was incredibly difficult and my memories of the isolation and pain I felt are still deeply upsetting. It took me years to get accustomed to my new school and finally find myself in a place where I have made many good friends and feel comfortable with who and where I

My mother was diagnosed with a tumor in her abdomen. This took a tremendous toll on me over the course of the next year. I was regularly traveling from Dallas to San Antonio to be by her side and take her to appointments. Being an only child and my father working in Italy, I was her main support system. Family is everything to me. My mother is my everything. This sudden shift of my focus was reflected in my poor grades. I matured quickly during this time and learned to be successful with a rigorous academic course load. Most importantly, I learned to never give up when all hope seems

Raynaud’s disease is when the body restricts the amount of blood flow to various parts of the body, such as the hands and feet. There are some factors that contribute to making this disease worse, but there are also some factors that can help in making this disease more controllable. With the very few known facts about Raynaud’s disease, it is not a disease that should be overlooked for the fact it affects “approximately five to ten percent of Americans.” (WebMD, 2005-2016).

Being diagnosed with cancer has impacted my outlook on life in many different ways. At first I saw cancer as a burden on my life and only the negative attributes stood out on how it was going to change my life and the way I saw people around me, but now after being two years cancer free, I have gone to realize the positive aspects cancer has had on my life.

A multitude of events have affected my life, but not all of them have been accomplishments, some have been hardships that have changed my character greatly. When I was fourteen, just a few days after Christmas, my father collapsed at work and was rushed to the hospital. There, doctors discovered that he had a brain tumor which had been pressing on his brain stem, ultimately leading to his seizure. Over the past few years, he has gone through a cycle of treatment and remission, all the while experiencing a steep decline in mental health. With everything my parents were going through, I found myself being forced into adulthood much faster than I ever anticipated, before I even had a driver’s license. Instead of worrying about midterms, I found

The summer of 2004 is when I got diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, it was very shocking for my family except for me, I still didn’t completely understand what I had. All I knew was that the poking and pricking with different sized needles was painful. Eventually I began to learn what Type 1 Diabetes really was, and even though i had it, it didn’t slow me down, I focused on my academics and when it affected me I addressed and fixed the problem and went back to work. I also didn’t let it slow down my physical activities either, I would be outside every single day as kid non-stop, also in middle school I joined gymnastics as well and pursued it until the start of my junior year of high school. Diabetes affected my way of life, it made me different than everyone else and could’ve slowed me down but I didn’t let it, I still participated in different activities that everyone else did.

In 2011, my brother was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis which affected my entire family including myself. He went through many surgeries, many of which made it quite impossible for me to see him given that I was only 11 years old, and everything on that level in that hospital was contagious. Throughout, this period in my life my mother was always busy and I learned to slowly do my things on my own. Although it sounds crucial, I didn’t expect much from my mother given that she basically lived in the hospital. I fell into depression because my brother was my best friend and I couldn’t accept that he was in so much pain. I learned to overcome depression and slowly learned that life shouldn’t be taken for granted and I should believe in myself.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in December of 2015. Fibromyalgia is a chronic widespread pain disorder with no discernible cause, or any reliable treatment. Dealing with a complex, invisible illness is convoluted and tends to take away from the number of experiences I can participate in, and has exposed me to judgement from my peers. This illness has impacted my life in many positive and negative ways. I am far more grateful for any opportunities that come my way, there is a list of what I cannot do as a result of my illness, but I refuse to let following my dreams join that list. I’ve become a faster thinker in order to hold my own, I’m more creative than ever as I constantly need to reimagine the ways that I must act in think in order

The most significant challenged I ever faced is being diagnosed with severe Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome my junior year of college. Receiving my diagnosis I was upset and negative about the situation. I knew financially I could not get the surgery, and I knew I needed to push on through college. Nevertheless, I never let my diagnosis get the best of me. My diagnosis did not get the best of me because I started to see it as a positive challenge. Additionally, I realized my diagnosis taught me important life lessons. One of the life lessons taught to me, by my diagnosis, was to not add constant stress to the situation out of my control. If a situation is out of my control, like being diagnosed with WPW, the worst response is constant

During the 2007 I got great news, I was accepted at UNC-Charlotte. Meanwhile, I had no idea 2007 my world would be turned upside down with bad news. My mother’s broth and sister were both diagnosis with Cancer. What’s most painful both siblings pasted away six months apart? Meanwhile, more bad news came my way when I mother was diagnosis with Cancer and Renal failure. I talked to my mother’s medical team, they voice they never seen where three siblings having cancer all at once in the same year, just months apart. Consequently, my mother survived her cancer just after two chemo treatments. I came home every weekend to help with her care. One promise to my mother I made was not to drop out of school, it was important to her that I finished

I have faced many adversities in my life; the most significant one being the passing of my dad. My dad battled with Multiple Myeloma since 2012, and unfortunately lost that battle on March 22nd, 2015. He was being treated for his cancer in Mexico, so when he became seriously ill I had to travel to see him. I visited him during winter break of my junior year and stayed a few days after my break was over. When I came back, I was behind in Chemistry. I went in on a daily basis to receive extra help from my teacher. All my hard work payed off as I earned an A in Chemistry my entire junior

Being a cancer survivor presents many persistent challenges. Despite those challenges, I graduated high school with honors. Hope for an uncertain future comes in part from the salvation I find in being a college student.