The CODA 50 Challenge: Your Way

I’m participating in the CODA 50 Your Way Challenge because this cause is incredibly personal to me. I live with multiple complex chronic illnesses, including Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy (AAG), POTS, ME/CFS, hEDS, and MCAS. These conditions have drastically changed my life, leaving me mostly bedbound for years and completely bedridden for months at a time. It’s difficult to put into words what it’s like to have so much of your life taken from you by illnesses that most people have never even heard of. To go from having dreams and plans for your future to spending much of your life in bed, fighting just to get through each day. To live with conditions that are often misunderstood, under-researched, and incredibly difficult to treat. There is so much loss that comes with chronic illness that people don’t always see. But even though these illnesses have taken so much from me, they haven’t taken away my desire to make a difference. Advocating for people with complex chronic illnesses and raising awareness for these conditions has become one of my biggest passions. I want to help change the future for people like me. I want us to have better treatment options, more research, more understanding, and a greater chance at getting some of our lives back. That’s why raising money for research through this challenge means so much to me. This isn’t just a cause I care about from a distance. It’s my life. It’s the lives of so many people who are suffering behind closed doors, often too sick to advocate for themselves. It’s about the people still searching for answers, the people who have been dismissed, and the people who deserve so much more than simply being told to learn to live with their illness. I may not be able to do everything I once dreamed of doing, but I can use my voice, share my story, and do what I can to help make a difference. If participating in this challenge helps move research forward, even in a small way, then it means something. My hope is that one day, fewer people will have to lose years of their lives to these illnesses without answers or effective treatments. Until then, I’ll keep advocating, raising awareness, and fighting for a better future for our community.