Real people. Real impact.Patient stories.

Meet Megan Kirby Lance: Not Just Surviving, Thriving with Dermatomyositis

Meet Angela Diven: A Mother’s Unbreakable Love for Her Son with a Rare Bone Disorder

Meet Nika: Standing Up Against IgG4-RD

Meet Alex: Building a Life of Service

Meet Natalie Kelley: A UC Patient Determined to Help Others Put Their Best Foot Forward

Meet Kaitlyn Johnson: A UC Patient Embracing An Active Life

Meet Chris Laskey: Proud Father and Cancer Research Advocate

Meet Austin: Focusing on Faith, Family, and Medicine

Meet Rosa Yanez: A Tenacious MS Patient With a Deep Love for Her Community

Meet Alison Jakubcin: How One Doctor—and a Chance Encounter—Changed her RA Journey

Meet Ashley Calvento: Facing an Invisible Illness with Positivity and Strength

Meet Josie: Emphasizing Representation for the Disability Community

Meet Cindy: Coaching Patients Through an Incurable Disease

Meet Laura: Staying consistent amidst uncertainty

Meet Andrea: Empowering Others by Living Fearlessly

Meet Judy: Advocating, Parenting, and Living Large

Meet Megan: Prioritizing Community for People with Chronic Conditions

Meet Kevin: Navigating Two Invisible Illnesses

Meet Becky Post: Beating the Odds One Meal at a Time

Meet Jenny Jones: A Short Bowel Syndrome Patient Turned Advocate

Meet Sam: Using Her Hard-Fought Knowledge to Empower Others Living with Epilepsy

Meet Lindsay Guentzel: A multimedia journalist who became one of the first autoimmune patients in the US to receive CAR T-cell therapy for dermatomyositis and now uses her platform to advocate for rare disease research.

Meet Charlie Razook: Turning His Leukemia into Passion and Purpose

Meet Cheryl Airy: A Rare Lymphoma Journey Fueled by Grace, Grit, and a Village of Support

Meet TJ Kandola: Living Life with Osteogenesis Imperfecta Authentically and on His Own Terms

Ally Gordon, Former competitive swimmer

Rebecca Uhl was 21 when she found out her heart didn't have room to function. She has spent every year since making sure other patients have the room they need too.

Meet Ruchi Ambike: Living with IgA Nephropathy and Building Community in Canada

Meet E. Rose Schubert: Refusing to Surrender to Her Diffuse Systemic Scleroderma Diagnosis

Meet Katherine Green: Sharing Awareness and Hope about MDS

Meet Patti Johnson: An EoE Patient Who Wrote Her Own Cookbook

Fiona Dennis used her skills in research to take control of her symptoms and develop a personalized, holistic approach to living with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and gastrointestinal diseases.

Hannah Petosa is a 22-year-old Boston University graduate with a degree in film and television.

Adjusting to life with EoE has brought challenges but Justin, who now lives “symptom-free”, is proof that EoE need not be a life-defining, devastating diagnosis.

Meet C.J. Papuro Cabrera: A UC Patient Using the Gym to Fight UC

Meet Wendi: Bringing Lupus Awareness to Florida

Meet Mahsa: Taking On Multiple Chronic Illnesses and the Healthcare System

Meet Geri: Providing Support for Others Living with Lupus Nephritis

Meet Russell Creed: A PSC Patient Encouraging Everyone to Live Life Fully

Meet Dani Lamb: A Hidradenitis Suppurative Patient Who Continues to Transcend

Meet Sean: Carving Out Community For People Living With wAIHA

Meet Michelle Wilson: A Blood Cancer Warrior Embracing Motherhood and Faith

Meet Ashley: Bringing Gratitude and Consistency into Every Day

Meet Amber Woods: An Epilepsy Patient Who Refuses to Give Up

Meet Peyton: Advocating for Better Balance and Care for People with Chronic Illnesses

Meet Cameron Bendgen: A Former MDS Patient, Invested Family Man, and Therapy Advocate

Meet Brian O’Sullivan Who Turned his Pain Into Purpose after Mantle Cell Lymphoma Diagnosis

Meet Stefan: Overcoming His Past, Paving His Own Path

Meet Heather: Building A Family and A Sjögren's Community

Meet Jazmin: Highlighting Variations in Chronic Illnesses

Meet Gabrielle: Turning To Hope Despite Lupus Nephritis

Meet Garrett Taira: An SBS Patient Embracing Comedy, Film, and Dance

Meet Phil: Sailing the World with Epilepsy in Tow

Meet Alex Peebles: A SBS Patient Fighting for Representation

Meet Michele Norris: Turning a Lifetime of Health Challenges Into Advocacy

Meet Tracy Evans, an IgAN Patient Committed to Supporting Others and Raising Awareness

At 14, competitive swimmer Tia Chakrapani spent eight months being told her symptoms were anxiety or asthma. After finally receiving her myasthenia gravis diagnosis, she's now helping other young patients get the care and answers they deserve.

Meet Chase: Setting An Example For People Living With Rare Kidney Diseases

Meet Lisa: Navigating the Rollercoaster of Autoimmune Disorders

Meet Nicole Evans: Lifting Up Epilepsy Patients (and Lifting Weights)

Meet Shawna Barnes: An MG Patient Who Refuses to Falter

Meet Kathy: Reminiscing about her triumph over MDS

Meet Kathy Goebel: Navigating Severe Sudden-Onset Autoimmune Hepatitis

After feeling adrift without answers around his health, Tobias is a valuable resource for others coming to terms with a diagnosis of EoE

Melissa Kirkland went from holding everything together to not being able to hold a pan. Here's how a rare autoimmune condition called CIDP changed her life overnight — and why she's talking about it.

Mallory was sixteen when COVID quietly went after her kidneys. Here's how she made it from the cancer floor of a children's hospital to college, travel plans, and a pretty good life. One Mrs. Dash shaker at a time.

Abbie was thirty, with newborn twins and an infection that wouldn't quit, when one stubborn blood test caught a silent killer in her liver. Six and a half years later, she's living in Portugal, raising three boys, and crossing HYROX finish lines.

Carolyn Collins spent ten years collecting symptoms before anyone gave them a name. Here's how a string of beads from Walmart turned a decade of being unseen into a platform called Manifesting Stability.

At 19, Anees Rahman noticed a small lump below his knee and was told it was nothing. Months later it had grown into what he called "a second knee." A diagnosis of undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma led to a rare 13-hour rotationplasty, five rounds of chemo, and a long road back. Five years on, he walks, runs, travels, and works as a designer. His story is about taking your body seriously, and about how much you can gain even after you lose.

Britt was thirty-four weeks pregnant when her hands and feet began to tingle. What followed was an emergency delivery, five months in the hospital, and an eight-month search for a diagnosis that finally had a name: CIDP. Three years later, she is standing again, and telling her story for the person who needs to hear that they are not alone.

Told for seven years that her bloodwork was normal, Victoria faced disbelief before being diagnosed with antibody-negative generalized myasthenia gravis.

Diagnosed with myasthenia gravis at 18, Layla now navigates life with renewed purpose as a community manager and advocate through @sonriendoamedias.

Diagnosticada con miastenia gravis a los 18 años, Layla hoy comparte su experiencia mediante @sonriendoamedias y vive con propósito como community manager.

Diagnosed with epilepsy during her first pregnancy, Miki weathered two decades, another child, and brain surgery to become an advocate for the condition's overlooked realities.

From training five days a week to struggling to dress herself, Laura was only properly diagnosed with GPA once her mother stepped in to advocate for her.

A car going the wrong way gave Indie a brain injury, and the brain injury gave her epilepsy. She lost her license, her independence, and none of her plans.

Kari works in accounting, not medicine. One day she had to sit down at her computer and work out what was wrong with her son. She was right.