Why is my body like this?!
I am a 23F, and I have been in and out of the hospital for the last 22 years of my life with different deadly/life threatening diseases/problems... And I AM FUCKING FED UP WITH MY BODY!!!
I didnt have a proper childhood, and it didnt help that I had had some unfortunate circumstances growing up (Not getting into it, that's a different story.)
At 4 years old, my doctors found out I had a birth defect that was causing severe UTI's and was causing my kidneys to shut down. I was on antibiotics for over a year until I had a procedure done to fix it, and after that was just CONSTANT ILLNESS. The flu isn't just a runny nose and fever... Its vomiting out of both ends, vertigo, 102°+ fevers that last for a week!! I cant even get the flu shot without ending up with the flu!!! Not to mention the medical gaslighting, manipulation, and downright neglect that I dealt with in my tiny ass town.
Then it hit a head at 14, right before I was supposed to go into high school. I was diagnosed with cancer, Hodgkins Lymphoma, stage 3 by the time I started chemo. I went through 6-7 rounds of chemo before I was in remisson- only to end up needing a blood transfusion and waiting OVER 8 HOURS in the ER. By the time I actually got my blood, my hemoglobin count was DANGEROUSLY LOW (4.3 g/dL... A 14 year old is supposed to have a 12.0 g/dL-15.5 g/dL. Or 120-155 g/L)
And here is the icing on the cake, I also had colon issued during my entire childhood, and it started out as stressed induced chronic constipation (Curtesy of other aspects that I will not get into here).
And I was PUMPED full of laxatives and stool softeners for OVER A DECADE. At 16 years old I had done every type of colonoscopy clean out known and THEY STILL DIDNT WORK. Finally after nearly a full MONTH of not having a bowel movement, 2 weeks after I turned 18 years old, I had a procedure done to remove 15 FUCKING POUNDS OUT OF MY RECTUM... And cherry on top- I GOT MISDIAGNOSED AND WAS IGNORE/GASLIT BY MY FUCKING MEDICAL TEAM FOR 2 YEARS, ONLY TO BE TOLD MY CASE WAS "Too complicated and severe"... I wish I was kidding... No one in my home state would take my medical case because it was "Too complicated".
Now, I am going to turn this rant into something a little more of a praise to Rochester, MI... BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE BEST DAMN HOSPITAL AND DOCTORS EVER!!! Mayo Clinic is absolutely incredible and I completely had my world flipped upside down... This was the first time EVER that I had experience any doctor actually listen and take interest in my condition... what took my doctors in my home state 2 YEARS to misdiagnose me with Hirchsprungs, I was properly diagnosed with non-genetic megacolon in 2 MONTHS!! I still in the middle of one of my tests when I was told the diagnosis, and I cannot tell you the RELIEF I felt, I burst into tears. Only after a couple of months of waiting, I got surgery to remove the none functioning colon (which I was told was close to "exploding" aka tearing open anyway) and a small part of me rectum.
Its because of this hospital and this medical team that I want to go into Healthcare, they solidified that desire to do something to make other people feel better... So Thank you to Mayo Clinic for restoring my trust in the medical field.
And I am back to ranting-
Now, a full year after I am healed and healthy- would you guess it, IT ALL GOES TO FUCKING HELL.
Not even 2 months ago, I ended up with strep throat for a full week... 2 weeks after that, an ear infection so severe that I was deaf in my Left Ear for 3 days... and now, 3 fucking weeks after all that, I managed to tear my fucking glute muscle.
How did you do that, you may ask?
I
SAT
DOWN
ON
THE
FLOOR!!!
IM NOT EVEN KIDDING, I JUST SAT DOWN, FELT A POP THEN I WAS IN EXCRUCIATING PAIN, I CAN'T EVEN WALK WITHOUT FALLING!!!
I AM SO FUCKING SICK AND TIRED OF THIS SHIT!!!!
Now, are there worse things? Absolutely... But I just wanna be healthy, both physically and mentally!!
Mentally... That's a work in progress, but its getting better.
Physically, Im not overweight and I enjoy being physically active (Minus running, I hate running with a burning passion... Mad respect to those who run marathons/enjoy it though!!!)
I am just at a loss... This has been my entire life and 2025 was the first year that I got a taste of what "normalcy" was... And I want it back... I want to be able to go play... But now I'm stuck with an ice pack glued to my ass cheek and the inability to even sit comfortably...
So random redditor, that is my long and wordy rant... Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.