I Am Not My Pain with Melissa Adams

Meet warrior, Carole Griffitts and her husband, FJ. Carole and FJ were happily married with two young sons when a severe, disabling back injury at work in 1978 began Carole’s 44-year journey with invisible disabilities. Carole was later diagnosed with post-polio syndrome in 1985, dystonia in 2005 and Sjogren’s syndrome in 2009. Her neuromuscular conditions interact with each other causing weakness...

Continuing our conversation with warrior, Camellia Phillips. Camellia has been suffering from chronic migraine for the past eighteen years as well as mild ulcerative colitis for the past decade. Camellia holds an MFA in creative writing from The New School and her essays and short stories have been published in literary magazines, children's magazines, and online outlets like The Mighty. She i...

Meet warrior, Camellia Phillips. Camellia has been suffering from chronic migraine for the past eighteen years as well as mild ulcerative colitis for the past decade. Camellia holds an MFA in creative writing from The New School and her essays and short stories have been published in literary magazines, children's magazines, and online outlets like The Mighty. She is a longtime writer and lead...

Continuing our discussion with warrior, Kathleen O’Shea. Kathy is an award-winning author, a regular blogger for psychologytoday.com , a professor of English and a migraine sufferer for over forty-three years. Her research and expertise combine masterfully to create her award-winning book, So Much More than a Headache: Understanding Migraine through Literature . Listen to Part Two Kathy explains w...

Meet warrior, Kathleen O’Shea. Kathy is an award-winning author, a regular blogger for psychologytoday.com , a professor of English and a migraine sufferer for over forty-three years. What initially began as writing about her own migraine experience transitioned into more as she researched literature on migraine. Her research and expertise combine masterfully to create her award-winning book, So M...

Meet warrior, Katiuscia Maria. Katiuscia was diagnosed with lupus nephritis at only thirteen. The lupus attacked her kidneys requiring a myriad of medications and chemotherapies. She enjoyed a few years of milder symptoms until 2009 when she became very ill. When all treatments failed to help, she decided to change her lifestyle and her lupus went into remission. Katiuscia is still immune suppress...

Continuing our discussion with warrior, Kathleen (Kath) Nicholls. Kath is a published author, a freelance illustrator and award-winning blogger and advocate living in Scotland. At the age of 21, she began suffering with pain and having limited use of her legs followed by crippling stomach pain. She was later diagnosed with arthritis and Crohn’s Disease which subsequently required surgery. Kath now...

Meet warrior, Kathleen (Kath) Nicholls. Kath is a published author, a freelance illustrator and award-winning blogger and advocate living in Scotland. At the age of 21, she began suffering with pain and having limited use of her legs followed by crippling stomach pain. She was later diagnosed with arthritis and Crohn’s Disease which subsequently required surgery. Kath now manages her conditions th...

Continuing our discussion with warrior, Tessa Koller. Tessa manages a rare genetic syndrome called 22Q11.2 Deletion Syndrome which can cause heart defects, poor immune function and more. She has endured several near-death experiences including one due to long haul Covid as well as many surgeries resulting in chronic pain. The diagnoses of Fibromyalgia and Behcet’s Syndrome soon followed. Tessa alw...

Meet warrior, Tessa Koller. Tessa manages a rare genetic syndrome called 22Q11.2 Deletion Syndrome which can cause heart defects, poor immune function and more. She has endured several near-death experiences including one due to long haul Covid as well as many surgeries resulting in chronic pain. The diagnoses of Fibromyalgia and Behcet’s Syndrome soon followed. Tessa always looks for the lessons...

Continuing our discussion with warrior, Marlena Chertock, born with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, a rare bone disorder and form of dwarfism resulting in short stature, chronic pain, arthritis, scoliosis, and more. In Part Two, listen as Marlena describes what it was like to grow up with her condition and to begin to recognize the resilience of her body. She shares her journey to identifying as dis...

Meet warrior, Marlena Chertock, who was born with spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, a rare bone disorder and form of dwarfism resulting in short stature, chronic pain, arthritis, scoliosis, and more. Marlena grew up knowing she was different from her peers. Tune in as Marlena shares how she navigated those differences, bullying, chronic pain, and medical interventions to find her identity, advocate fo...

Continuing our discussion with warrior, Samah Khan. Samah’s dream was to be a doctor. She was making her dream a reality when in her penultimate year of medical school, mysterious and chronic symptoms started. She graduated but her health issues forced her to give up practicing medicine, her passion in life. Samah spent the following years searching for her diagnoses, being dismissed by the medica...

Meet warrior, Samah Khan. Samah’s dream was to be a doctor. She was making her dream a reality when in her penultimate year of medical school, mysterious and chronic symptoms started. She graduated but her health issues forced her to give up practicing medicine, her passion in life. Samah spent the following years searching for her diagnosis, being dismissed by the medical profession, and managing...

Continuing our discussion with warrior, Kashinda Marche. In 1995, Kashinda was a nineteen-year-old, new mother when she received the life-changing diagnosis of HIV. Reaching a breaking point with her mental health, Kashinda choose to focus on changing her mindset. Four neurosurgeries and many diagnoses followed throughout the years including Hidradenitis Suppurative, Autoimmune Disorder, Adrenal I...

Meet warrior, Kashinda Marche. In 1995, Kashinda was a nineteen-year-old, new mother when she received the life-changing diagnosis of HIV. Reaching a breaking point with her mental health, Kashinda choose to focus on changing her mindset. Four neurosurgeries and many diagnoses followed throughout the years including Hidradenitis Suppurative, Autoimmune Disorder, Adrenal Insufficiency, Pituitary Ad...

Continuing our conversation with warrior, Allyson Finn. Allyson is a chronic illness advocate, substitute teacher, actress, and business consultant who has spent the last decade unraveling different health issues caused by a hypermobile form of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Recently, Allyson has been experiencing symptoms including severe gastro issues possibly due to POTS, a comorbidity of Ehlers-Danlo...

Meet warrior, Allyson Finn. Allyson is a chronic illness advocate, substitute teacher, actress, and business consultant who has spent the last decade unraveling different health issues caused by a hypermobile form of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Recently, Allyson has been experiencing symptoms including severe gastro issues possibly due to POTS, a comorbidity of Ehlers-Danlos. A true veteran of managin...

Meet warrior, Aston Martinez. Aston is diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Narcolepsy, Chronic Activated Epstein Barr Virus, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Trigeminal Neuralgia. Aston understands biases are part of being human. However, when doctors and medical staff fail to recognize and address their personal biases, they can cause irrevocable physica...

Continuing our discussion with warrior, Courtney, who along with uncommon conditions of POTS and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, struggles with worsening unexplained and life-altering symptoms. After experiencing extremely painful and concerning complaints for over a month and receiving little help from her family physician and other specialists, Courtney reluctantly attended her local emergency departmen...

Let’s catch up with warrior Courtney, from Episodes S1E11 and S1E12, who discussed the dismissiveness, gaslighting and judgements she faces on her odyssey to find respectful medical care. Courtney manages multiple rare conditions, which include POTS and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, but she also struggles with worsening unexplained symptoms, which are accumulating over time. Her uncommon, complex and ul...

Continuing our discussion with warrior, Tracy Riggs Frontz. Tracy is a professional, award-winning photographer and writer, mom, and newly married. From childhood to adulthood, Tracy manages a myriad of diagnoses from bipolar type II, dysautonomia, complex regional pain syndrome, and more. Tune in as Tracy shares how certain comments impacts her both negatively and positively. If you ever wondered...

Meet warrior, Tracy Riggs Frontz. Tracy is a professional, award-winning photographer and writer, mom, and newly married. As a child and teen, Tracy experienced many health issues such as reactive hypoglycemia, anxiety, depression, Mitral Valve Prolapse, and dysautonomia. In adulthood, she began to suffer with polycystic ovarian syndrome, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, fibromyalgia, bipolar t...

Continuing our discussion with warrior, Carly Fox. Carly is a 20-year-old disabled student living with psoriatic arthritis, fibromyalgia, mental illnesses of generalized anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, and ADHD. Listen to Carly as she discusses coping with disability, her experience with autoimmune medications, the connection between her PTSD, anxiety and pain, and how advocat...

Meet warrior, Carly Fox. Carly is a 20-year-old disabled student living with psoriatic arthritis, fibromyalgia, mental illnesses of generalized anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, and ADHD. Identifying as disabled was a complex and personal journey where Carly challenged her own preconceived notions on disability to address her internalized ableism and find a new understanding of...