I have been wanting to start a blog for a long time and have made several attempts before. This time I want to take it seriously. Living with chronic illness and being a nurse has given me a unique perspective on healthcare. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on the subject and find that writing is the easiest way for me to share them.
I hope that sharing my stories as a young adult living with chronic illness will show people who don’t know what it is like just a little bit of what people like me go through on a daily basis. I also hope that others who live with chronic illness find a sense of solidarity in my stories.
A few quick tid bits about me…
I am 28 and live in Kansas City. I work as a nurse and am currently enrolled in a pediatric nurse practitioner program (Dec 2023 here I come!). I have a cat named Minerva (Minnie) who is my little sour patch fur baby.
As for my chronic illnesses I am basically a walking endocrinology textbook and have been seeing an endocrinologist since before I was born (not literally, but close enough). I guess we can start from the beginning…
I was born with Turner’s Syndrome. Long story short my last pair of chromosomes (the ones that determine sex) are XO instead of XX. It is what caused my short stature. It also means I can’t have have kids on my own. I took growth hormone injections until I was 15 or 16 to help me grow.
After 2ish glorious years of not being a pin cushion and getting to live a relatively “normal” life I was diagnosed with type one diabetes when I was 18. It will be 10 years in December. I use an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor. Diabetes requires more attention than my other illnesses.
When my body was done attacking my pancreas it decided to go after my thyroid and gave me hypothyroidism. Me and your grandma can pop our Synthroid together at 6Am
Anyway, thats me in a nutshell. Gotta save some stuff for blog content. I don’t know where this blog will lead what will come of it, but I hope you take this journey with me
thechronicconfessional.com 
Hi Brianna 🙂
I’ve got several things you have too — plus “vitiligo” (there’s something about having one of these autoimmune disorders that seems to increase the chances of having the others, I think).
It’s a great idea you’ve got here! 😀
Meeting up IRL can be very helpful in many ways, too. For example, patients can share information about how to deal with various aspects of a sometimes quite complicated health-care system. Or doctors, or whatever. I would strongly advise trying to find a way to make such meetups possible *without becoming dependent on others* … for example: if a company wants to sponsor the meetup, or contribute so-called “freebies”, then simply decline.
I’ll follow + look forward to your future updates!
🙂 Norbert
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