Made Visible

Join Devri Velazquez and host, Harper Spero, for a special IG Live event on February 15th at 11:00am EST! Follow @madevisiblestories on Instagram to tune in.   When Devri Velazquez was diagnosed with Takayasu's arteritis at 20 years old, the prognosis was devastating. Doctors didn't think she would live to age 21. On today's episode, we talk about what Devri's life looks like now, ten years after...

Join Hannah Olson and host, Harper Spero, for a special IG Live event on February 8th at 12:00pm EST! Follow @madevisiblestories on Instagram to tune in.   When employers come to Hannah Olson and ask her why they should hire people who have chronic illness, she has a lot to say. Hannah is the founder is Chronically Capable, a platform that connects people who are chronically ill or disabled with m...

Join Genevieve Gorder and host, Harper Spero, for a special IG Live event on February 1st at 11:30am EST! Follow @madevisiblestories on Instagram to tune in.   Interior design star Genevieve Gorder wants to live in the light, not in her illness. What does that mean, exactly? For Genevieve, who has both Lyme disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, it means refusing to stake her identity in her health...

Join Ally Hilfiger and host, Harper Spero for a special IG Live event on January 25th at ***2pm EST!*** (Rescheduled from 12:30pm EST) Follow @madevisiblestories on Instagram to tune in. Ally Hilfiger was bitten by a tick at age seven and battled severe physical and neurological symptoms throughout her childhood, but she wasn't diagnosed with Lyme until after a hospitalization at age 18. On today'...

Tune in to hear more about the latest happenings with Made Visible.  Follow @madevisiblestories on Instagram  Check out our services, writing classes and offerings at www.madevisiblestories.com

In Fall 2020, when I launched the Made Visible Writing Class, the editors at Health Magazine held a contest for my class participants. At the end of class, they selected one essay to publish on their website. Today's episode features the winner of the contest, Rita Maureen Thompson and her essay, " POTS Is an Illness Causing Fatigue, Rapid Heartbeat, and Nausea—Here's What It's Like to Live With I...

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Click here to learn more and apply for the Made Visible Writing Class.  Sign up for the Made Visible newsletter here . I promise we won't spam you!  Follow Harper on Instagram and Twitter . 

I'm excited to be talking with my dad, Harry Spero, for this final episode of the podcast. We talk about how Job's syndrome has impacted my life from childhood to the present, how he and my mom have supported me in different ways throughout my life, and his impression of me as a person who is resilient and determined. My dad told me between Episode #30 and #40 that he wanted to interview me on Epi...

It was only a couple years after Trish Gauthier's son had been diagnosed with leukemia that she received her own diagnosis: breast cancer. Even though she had just had her physical and everything had looked great, Trish knew that something was off in her body. On today's episode, Trish talks to me about how she's advocated for herself and her son through their journeys with illness, her determinat...

As founder of #HalftheStory, Larissa "Larz" May is focused on an invisible struggle we're all facing: our relationship with technology. Larz became aware of her own unhealthy relationship with social media during college, when she was experiencing challenging symptoms of depression and anxiety. On today's episode, Larz and I talk about her mental health journey, why she's passionate about digital...

Sign up for the Made Visible Writing Class here: https://harperspero.com/madevisiblewritingclass

When Felicia Stingone talks about her brother, who has bipolar disorder, it's clear how important this relationship is to her. She sees her brother as a person, not as his illness. As she starts to write a book about her experience as a "caring sibling" to her brother, she embraces that her story is both of their stories. On today's episode, we talk about how Felicia is navigating the writing proc...

Elizabeth Tikoyan didn't always share her health story the way she does now. Diagnosed with Lyme disease in high school, she was very aware of the stigma around having a health condition. On today's episode, Elizabeth tells me about her journey to get diagnosed, and how misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis led to her symptoms reaching a chronic stage. We talk about how she navigated college, why she fo...

For creative arts therapist Stephanie Omens, it's all about storytelling--even in the most challenging of circumstances. She works with children who have illnesses or who have parents or siblings who are ill, and it's her job to help them understand what they're experiencing. On today's episode, Stephanie talks about why white lies don't serve kids and why truth telling empowers them, how she uses...

When she was 15, Tricia Huffman made a big decision--she wanted to move through life in a different way. On today's episode, Tricia and I talk about this choice, which was wrapped up in the emotional and physical pain of her then-undiagnosed invisible illness. We also discuss her eventual diagnosis of fibromyalgia, and how she managed her condition while working as a touring sound engineer. Finall...

Since Pamela Hunter's daughter Ransom was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder at age two-and-a-half, Pamela has done everything she can to get her daughter the help she needs. On today's episode, we talk about what it means to be a parent to a child with this condition. We also talk about how difficult moments have given Pamela the conviction to stick with her gut, and how Ransom's story al...

Jen Pastiloff has built her identity and career around connecting with people. She also has profound hearing loss and tinnitus and is deaf without her hearing aids. As a result, she's had to cultivate other ways of understanding and hearing. On today's episode, Jen and I talk about the specific challenges that come with tinnitus and hearing loss, the assumptions people make if they don't know that...

After Sonali Gupta was diagnosed with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy in 2008, she went on a trip to India with her dad to explore options for healing. As an NYU grad, Sonali had been eyeing a career in the music industry, but she found a health journey in India instead. She now lives in Mumbai, and is writing a memoir about this experience. On today's episode, Sonali and I talk about what that tri...

Mira Mariah thinks tattoos are rock 'n' roll, and so are disabled people. As she says, disabled people have to be really "innovative and creative"--and what's more rock 'n' roll than that? Though Mira didn't always associate with the word "disabled," that sense of herself shifted once she had amputation surgery and got a prosthetic leg. On today's episode, I talk with Mira about fashion's role in...

For Quentin Vennie, despite having been diagnosed with acute anxiety and depression at 14, this wasn't the focus as he grew up. The focus was on surviving, given that he lived in one of the most dangerous cities in America, had to contend with racism and prejudice, and lived in communities with limited resources. On today's episode, I talk with Quentin about his decision to fight to live, why gard...

When Devri Velazquez was diagnosed with Takayasu's arteritis at 20 years old, the prognosis was devastating. Doctors didn't think she would live to age 21. On today's episode, we talk about what Devri's life looks like now, ten years after her diagnosis, and what it was like to hear such a scary prognosis when she was first diagnosed. We also talk about why, today, managing her physical stress and...

Nikki Boyer put it best, when talking about her relationship with her best friend Molly: "We're going to say the things that people don't say." On today's episode, Nikki and I talk about "Dying for Sex," the podcast she and Molly created to tell Molly's story of navigating terminal cancer while also embracing sexual adventures. We also dig into the complicated and layered nature of caregiving, and...

Jenn Donohue and her husband's twins were born at 24 weeks, making them four months premature. On today's episode, Jenn and I talk about how she and her husband navigated the "start and stop" feeling as they navigated their son's health while also coping with the loss of their daughter, who passed away at one week old. We also talk about what the role of caregiving means to Jenn, and how she and h...

Dr. Alexandra Freeman is an infectious diseases physician at the National Institutes of Health, and as she explains, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about COVID-19. Dr. Freeman first spoke on Episode #24, and I wanted to have her back to talk about what the pandemic has been like for her and her patients, who are people with primary immunodeficiencies (like me). On today's episode, w...