My Journey with Chronic Illness and Abuse

Hi friends. I decided to come on here and share a little bit about myself. my name is Belle and I have been chronically ill my entire life. on top of all of the chronic illness I also have chronic mental illness, and have suffered a lifetime of constant active abuse. I consider myself a survivor more than anything. I have survived the unthinkable. my body has almost died on me too many times to count. from severe hospitalized pneumonia to rare diseases when I was just 9 months old, and yet here I am. surviving all of It. when I was 3 months old my first chronic illness came on. I stopped breathing in my mother's arms, and got diagnosed with severe asthma. by the time I was 5 years old I was on 15 different anti-biotics and steroids daily to help me survive. I have multiple auto-immune diseases on top of it which we did not know at the time, and I couldn't stop getting sick. I was on breathing treatments every 4 hours just to survive on top of all of that. in 2nd and 3rd grade I was in the ER every other night because I couldn't stop coughing. I missed so much school they almost held me back, but I was a straight A student at the time. I couldn't go outside if it was below 50 degrees or above 80 degrees because my lungs were so bad. when I was 7 or 8 I got a life changing surgery. it seemed so simple but it genuinly improved my quality of life 10 fold. I got my adenoids out, ear tubes put in, my stomach biopsied and they scoped my nose and throat. that's also when I got diagnosed with my 2nd chronic illness. celiac disease. when I got diagnosed with celiac disease, it was far before the time when gluten free foods were normalized and found everywhere. it was very difficult for me. after I got my surgery, I then became an elite competitive dancer, I joined band and played the clarinet. it truly changed my life. throughout all of that, it was still a battle with my asthma. during marching band season I was constantly in the ambulance, constantly taken to the ER, it pushed me past my limits. but I loved it. dance was a different world. and ended up giving me anorexia nervousa. but that's a different story. as I've grown up, and due to my constant childhood abuse. I've been diagnosed/developed more chronic issues. in January of 2022 I was knowingly given covid. we didn't even go out for now years. I am a high risk individual and I was in the hospital for it but luckily i survived. but then came the battle. I thought I had made it Scott free from covid without any lasting side effects. I was wrong. I now have covid exasperated pots. long covid, migraine issues, constant tachycardia etc etc. covid ravaged my body. and for a while I felt as if it took everything from me. I was previously a professional rock climber. I managed a gym when I got covid, and rock climbed 4+ times a week. I was in peak health. now it's 2023. I've had covid 3 times in total. and I am learning how to cope with my new diagnoses. I also am in the process of getting diagnosed with pernicious anemia from parietal cell antibodies. but again that's a whole different story. I am and always have been a survivor. no illness will ever get the best of me. I refuse to believe it. the amount of things I have accomplished after having doctor after doctor tell me I never would is from my drive and my will to.prove everyone wrong. Im sorry if this story is slightly scattered. it's obviously not my full story. but it is a glimpse into my life. thank you if you took the time to read it. we. are. survivors.