Diving Head First into Chronic Illness
"I'm sick". It's a sentence we use plenty in our lifetime, especially during cold & flu season. Your nose is red and your eyes are bleak and your face is pale. And people often comment, "whoa, you look sick". But how many people are sick without actually appearing to be? The answer? Plenty. I should know. I'm one of those people. The diagnosis? Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. I was diagnosed at age 16 with POTS by a neurologist, but my disease started a few years earlier. I remember the first time I ever fainted, which is one of my main symptoms. I was 13. It was in May of 2009, 10 years ago this year. Now, let me just say that over the last decade I have fainted hundreds of times. So many times I can't even begin to explain. And I honestly only remember what happened for a handful of those times. But this time, I remember too clearly. I was singing for my very first junior high Spring Concert with a