RESILIENCE

Description

RETRACED is a story-telling art project where anonymous individuals submit a true story of overcoming to be illustrated and shared. Original art pieces are given to the author for free, and prints are sold to pay the difference. Each of the prints on this page were inspired by a true story from an anonymous author. This is the story behind this picture:

 [One day at 18 years old, I suddenly awoke to] pain shooting down my arm . . . [Over] the next few months, [the pain] became so severe I was on 8 different medications [that] barely took the edge off . . .The only time I left the house or even my bed was to go to my numerous doctors’ appointments. [The] pain and isolation were turning me into a totally different person. I went from being kind, caring, and shy to angry, depressed, and manipulative. . . [I] had seen around 40 different doctors and had numerous different diagnostic tests. . . My last hope was resting with a highly acclaimed neurologist. . . During my appointment . . . he said, “All of your exams were normal . . .” I didn’t have any hope left. . . I could either let the pain consume me or fight back against it. . . The next day I took myself off of every medication I was on. . . I accepted I was going to be in pain, but I was not going to allow it to stop me from living my life. . .  as time wore on, I got better at dealing with the pain. . . About two years later the root cause of my pain was finally discovered. I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. . . I finally had my answer to what was going on with me, but it changed nothing because there is nothing that can be done for it. . . I had already taken the best course of action when I accepted my new reality. Though the pain has progressed to now encompass my entire body, I am happy. . . I am currently in my second year of medical school. I am happily married, and I truly like the person I have become. My battle with pain has not been an easy one and I have faced some dark times but in the end I try to use it as motivation and look at the positive
things that have come of it instead of dwelling on the negatives.”