Let’s welcome this week’s warrior, Lee!
Hey Besties, I’m Lee! I live in a small-ish town about 1hr north of Toronto, Ontario Canada.
I started collecting chronic illnesses in 2018 and I like to think that since then, I’ve gotten quite the collection! The main star of the show is my Crohn’s-Colitis diagnosis, the road to getting diagnosed took about 3 years and was so frustrating. Even though IBD runs in my family, I wasn’t being listened to by Dr’s; I kept being told “it’s just anxiety” or “overweight people don’t have Crohn’s.” It took my psychiatrist advocating for me to have stable mental health before I was even given a colonoscopy.
My other diagnoses are; Rheumatoid Arthritis, POTS, PCOS, and Hashimotios, with a touch of anxiety.
No part of my life is the same since becoming sick; because it took so long for me to get a diagnosis it’s taken even longer to get my conditions under control with medications and surgery. I still haven’t been in any type of remission and I’m just cycling through one flare up after the next.
Before my illnesses became as intense as they are now, I was a counselor but I’ve had to give that up and find a less stressful job. The hardest part of all this is not knowing how you’re going to feel when you wake up the next day.
This journey has taught me that I’ll always come back stronger than a 90’s trend! I’m resilient and if it wasn’t for my illnesses, I never would have learned how to truly love and appreciate my body!
Something I wish I knew earlier in my journey is that not everyone will stick by you. You may lose a lot of your friends, or people you thought were your friends – but there’s an amazing community of people online who are here to love and support you! I’ve never met some of my best friends!
I’m hands down the biggest Swiftie you’ll ever meet! I love listening to Taylor Swift when going for drives on backroads and singing at the top of my lungs, I also love watching true crime!
Your illness doesn’t have to limit you! I started a clothing line for us spoonies to be comfy in! We can do anything but it just may take us a bit longer.
Thank you so much for sharing your chronic illness journey with us Lee! Be sure to give her a follow in IG @chroniic.and.iconiic