“At 29 years of age, I had to go on disability. I can’t explain how pride swallowing and heart wrenching that was for me. My family was worried sick. My doctors were baffled but trying. And in the meantime, I was getting sicker and sicker. My symptoms were in a flared state, I was gasping for air, barely able to breathe. I could barely hold my head up, my eyes could barely stay open. My body was simply shutting down. The feeling of being so ill and knowing not one soul can help you is a frightening reality. I was living at my brother’s so my family could help care for me. My life had come to a grinding halt. It had been turned upside down and was frozen in midair.”