A Journey Through Survival

My Story: A Journey Through Survival

2017–2018 That was the year my life shifted forever. I became disabled and suddenly reliant on a wheelchair just to move from one room to another. My strength began to vanish little by little, until even the simplest daily tasks became insurmountable. Each week I grew weaker, until finally, I could no longer walk at all.

Unbeknownst to me, the apartment where I lived was silently poisoning me, it was infested with mold. My body spiraled into crisis. I grew dangerously ill and hypersensitive to everything around me. My once-active lifestyle as a stay-at-home mother who was always on the move quickly collapsed. I became too frail to even lift myself, landing me in hospital after hospital.

After countless admissions, doctors finally determined that I was permanently disabled, my health shattered by a combination of disease and the toxic, mold-ridden environment. They wrote urgent letters of accommodation, advising that I be transferred to another apartment, one safe, one free from mold.

But accepting this “new normal” was devastating. My life now required a wheelchair, a walker, and even a shower chair. My outings became rare and short-lived. I went from being completely independent to leaning on others for nearly everything.

The Comeback Over time, I clawed back pieces of my independence. I pushed the wheelchair into a corner, needing it only occasionally. I returned the walker to storage. The shower chair was finally gone. I dared to believe I had escaped the shadows that tried to claim me.

Now, 2025 But the fight isn’t over. My wheelchair has returned, not as a visitor but as a constant companion. The walker, too, makes its occasional reappearance. Even the shower chair is back in my life after years of being gone.

My body is once again rebelling. My blood pressure plummets without warning. My heart rate spikes thirty points above normal. My POTS is in full flare, fueled by malnutrition. My mast cell disease, for the moment, is somewhat contained, but the battle rages on.

The cruelest twist? Mold exposure reigniting my mast cells causing me to lose pears from my diet, something so small, so ordinary has stripped away a third of my food intake. Without them, my already fragile system suffers even more.

Yet here I am, still standing in spirit, still fighting. My story isn’t over, it’s only building.

Written By

The Original "Girl In A Bubble"