In April of 2017, I started to experience extreme pain and significant swelling in my abdomen. I went to my doctor with a list of almost a dozen symptoms, but these were quickly dismissed as “unrelated”. As time went on, my health problems continued to get worse, and there were fewer and fewer foods that I could safely consume. I began a series of appointments with many different doctors, specialists and naturopaths. I followed every possible lead, only to come away with nothing. In this process, there were also several misdiagnoses and medications prescribed for illnesses that I didn’t have. This became a journey of self-discovery, and a constant struggle of coming to terms with sickness that is not easily resolved. Over the course of seven months, I have watched myself slowly deteriorate, trying to grapple with something I didn’t have any control over. An invisible illness that consumed my daily life, from the inside out, leaving me feeling completely isolated from those around me who couldn’t understand or see my sickness.
