I Am Not My Pain with Melissa Adams

Continuing our discussion with warrior, Kimi. Kimi is a young adult living and coping with hydrocephalus, slit ventricle syndrome and chronic pain syndrome from her past forty neurosurgeries. At any moment, Kimi’s shunt in her brain could break, resulting in surgery, pain and upheaval in her life. Tune in to hear Kimi explain how she has been able to accept her present and the uncertainty of her f...

Meet warrior, Kimi. Kimi is a young adult living and coping with hydrocephalus, slit ventricle syndrome and chronic pain syndrome from her past forty neurosurgeries. At seventeen, Kimi suffered a hemorrhagic stroke due to a failed 3rd Ventriculostomy which took away her ability to walk, talk or do anything with the right side of her body. Kimi slowly fought her way back and discovered her new pass...

We continue our discussion with warrior, Isaac Kakone. After a horrific motorcycle accident in 2019 ripped all the nerves connecting his left arm to his brain, Isaac’s severe nerve pain pushed him into a constant cycle of pain, suffering and addiction. Listen as Isaac explains how finding his core values allowed him to not only live with his pain but find purpose and thrive despite it. To learn mo...

Meet warrior, Isaac Kakone. In August 2019, Isaac was in a horrible motorcycle accident. The accident ripped all the nerves connecting his left arm to his brain, causing severe chronic nerve pain and essentially a dead left arm. Isaac’s experience with pain and suffering thrust him into a very dark place and into addiction as a way to cope. Realizing he could not live this way anymore, he began ed...

Meet warrior, Nicole. Nicole is a 30-year-old teacher managing multiple diagnoses including fibromyalgia, arthritis, chronic migraine, MCTD and more. Nicole has been misdiagnosed, judged, and dismissed by doctors as she constantly struggles to find the right care covered by her health insurance. Listen as Nicole shares her experience with doctors, good and bad, and how those experiences affect her...

Meet warrior, Jenny Jones. Jenny believes persistence is key to living with all the aspects of her two rare, chronic conditions called Familial Adenomatous Polyposis and Short Bowel Syndrome. Diagnosed with FAP as a child, she underwent a total colectomy at age nine. Complications led to six additional surgeries and an eighth surgery to remove her gall bladder. With encouragement from a community...

Meet warrior, Kale Sastre. Kale is an anthropologist and avid adventurer who grew up being sick a lot, but her family wouldn’t believe her or take her pain seriously. Kale learned to be very independent hiding her symptoms until they worsened. She was later diagnosed with migraine, spine issues, fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety and PTSD, resulting in severe pain, exhaustion, and balance issues. L...

Meet warrior, Carolanne Monteleone. Carolanne was a bright-eyed 21-year-old woman when chronic illness struck her life. Carolanne quickly lost huge pieces of her independence having to move back in with her parents and depending on them for help with ER visits, doctor’s appointments, medications, showers and her feeding tube. Eventually diagnosed with many chronic conditions such as gastroparesis,...

Meet warrior, Kat Harrison. Kat is a fierce advocate and writer who lives with chronic, daily migraine, bilateral vestibular loss, oscillopsia, chronic ear disease and a rare headache condition called SUNCT Syndrome. Tune in as Kat shines a realistic light on the everyday decisions the chronically ill face. She'll also share how to increase accessibility and inclusion in the workplace, home and be...

Meet warrior, Elianna. After fracturing her growth plate in the fifth grade, Elianna was diagnosed with CRPS, fibromyalgia and Oppositional Defiant Disorder and so began her young life living with illness and pain. More diagnoses followed including chronic fatigue syndrome, migraine, chronic hip bursitis and a rare digestive issue called “dumping syndrome.” Tune in as Elianna shares how she manage...

Meet warrior Kelly Douglas. Kelly is a mental health and disability advocate, a Contributor Editor for the Mighty and a Senior Editor for Unwritten. Kelly has lived with cerebral palsy since birth and has also experienced intermittent chronic pain for just over a decade. Managing her disability and her pain creates many challenges in her life — especially with her mental health. Listen as Kelly sh...

Continuing our conversation with warrior, Samantha Moss. Listen in as Sam shares more about how she finds acceptance and embraces her new life as a patient advocate, blogger, podcaster, and author, with her biggest passion being her global Facebook support group called, Medical Musings with Friends ; now 1,800 members strong. To learn more about Samantha Moss or her new book, you can visit her blo...

Meet warrior, Samantha Moss. Sam had a successful management career in financial services until 2014, when she had a severe bowel prolapse resulting in a permanent colostomy. Many diagnoses followed including a complex idiopathic Rare Bone Disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Sam constantly struggles with pathological broken bones and a future filled with unpredictability. Tune in to hear Sam’s amazi...

Meet warrior, Saramax Guttman. Saramax has been diagnosed with celiac disease, epilepsy, psoriatic arthritis and lupus and has suffered with mental illnesses such as OCD since childhood. Saramax knows firsthand how the healthcare system can view and treat you differently as a woman with a chronic illness. Tune in as she shares her experience and how she promotes awareness on living with chronic il...

Meet warrior, Jen. Jen suffers from Functional Neurological Disorder causing severe dizziness, tiredness, migraines, and cognitive issues. Once a tax consultant, Jen is now disabled and feels the impact of her condition in all areas of her life. Listen as Jen explains how she adjusts her everyday life from cooking to running errands around her condition and her small town and how she finds humor w...

Continuing our conversation with warrior, Andy Kottmeier Moar as she offers more self-management tools for the chronically ill.

Meet warrior, Andrea (Andy) Kottmeier Moar. Andy is diagnosed with Cushing’s disease, kidney disease, neuropathy, type 1 diabetes, vitiligo, and more. Andy taught a six-week chronic disease self-management course called, “Better Choices, Better Health” in Alberta, Canada. Tune in to Andy share her story and what important self-management tools we can use when living day-to-day with chronic conditi...

Meet warrior, Kris McElroy. Kris is a 37-year-old autistic biracial black transgender man with multiple disabilities and chronic illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and Complex Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia. Kris is a passionate artist, advocate, freelance writer, and most importantly, a dad to a beautiful 2-year-old-daughter. Kris will be the first to say he was both afraid and elated to be a...

Meet warrior, CJ. CJ manages latent autoimmune diabetes. Highly focused on her diet, CJ developed an eating disorder and became malnourished. Education and support from the diabetes community opened the door for CJ to seek help for her eating disorder, break her own misconceptions and fears about diabetes, and fuel her passion to advocate for herself and others. Tune in to hear CJ’s journey and ho...

Meet warrior, Jae Cobb. Diagnosed with lupus, fibromyalgia, CRPS and several other conditions, Jae juggles a lot of symptoms while working a full-time job. Listen as Jae discusses how she manages working with her chronic conditions and how finding her passion motivates her to overcome her pain daily. Follow Jae’s journey on Facebook and Instagram @chronicallyillandstrong or find her blog on Tumblr...

Resuming our discussion with warrior, Courtney as she continues to be bombarded with dismissiveness, gaslighting and judgements from her doctors and even from her closest friends. Listen to her story.

Meet warrior, Courtney. Courtney manages multiple, rare conditions such as POTS and Ehlers-Danlos as well as struggles with unexplained symptoms. Seeking treatment in her small area is far from easy as she continuously confronts dismissiveness, gaslighting and judgments from the medical community and even from her friends. Tune in as Courtney shares her heartbreaking story that is all too common f...

Meet warrior, Melissa Wardlaw. Melissa is diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type 2 as a result of a non-paralyzing injury. Melissa learned early the value of being her own advocate. But she also realized the tremendous gap in support which is why this fierce warrior spends her time providing free peer counseling and advocating for CRPS and chronic illness awareness. Listen to Melissa s...

Meet warrior, Mindy. Mindy is among one and five Americans who experience mental illness. Living with varying levels of depression and anxiety for most of her life, Mindy knows her conditions and symptoms well. Therefore, when her widespread chronic pain started, she sought help right away only to have her pain be automatically dismissed as part of her mental illnesses. Listen to Mindy explain how...

Meet warrior, Leanne Million. Leanne’s identity was one of drama teacher, actress and all around go getter until she experienced a concussion in a car accident. Managing her physical pain and issues with her neurological function from post-concussion syndrome, Leanne had to leave her job and felt huge pieces of her identity slip away, a common occurrence in the lives of the chronically ill. Tune i...