Surviving Stroke: In the tunnel I always start my story with " I went to sleep as LeaAnn and woke up a total stranger. On September 2014 Labor day, I suffered a bleeding stroke and a acute subdura hetome, brain anyurism which led to brain surgery to relieve the pressure. This was caused by a blood disease I caught in my mechanical heart valves after some routine dental surgery. The doctors told my family that if I survived, I would never be the same. After 3 months of learn

Nicolas Jones was born with Myelomeningocele Spina Bifida. Growing up was difficult for Nicolas . What was Nicolas childhood difficult ? He is a Hispanic man growing up with Spina Bifida, in a culture he was unfamiliar with. Nicolas had to learn a different language and different way of living . Nicolas comes from a family of 4 . His parents , himself and sister . Nicolas’s parents were and are as supportive as possible . Nicolas’s sister has also been very supportive . She h

Many people face challenges as they go through life; by being in a wheelchair, me or others like me face challenges every day. These obstacles range from how people may treat me when I’m out in public to adapting when the environment around me is not fit for me. One example of this is while I was getting my Multimedia Journalism degree from Florida Atlantic University. I struggled with the automatic handicap doors not always working like they were supposed to. In situations

Temiya Fisher is a 29 year old SB Mom from Birmingham, Alabama. Her pregnancy with Thaddius Jr was difficult, Temiya had severe morning sickness, She wasn’t able to keep anything down, no water, no prenatal vitamins, no food, not a thing . This lasted almost the Temiya’s entire pregnancy. Until she was 7.5 months, then Temiya could keep more down. Other than that Thaddius was very active in the womb, kicking and turning. When Temiya and Thaddius found out Thaddius Jr had Myel

My name is Joel Cooper and I was born with Spina Bifida Myelomeningocele, Arnold Chiari Malformation, along with Hip dysphasia and Scoliosis. I also was not expected to live past 1-year-old, nor be able to walk if I did live. Growing up with Spina Bifida, I always knew I was a bit different, but I never let it stop me. Things were difficult for me and I did quite frequently get bullied for it, but it never crushed my spirit. Even though I was always told by doctors that

Right before Christmas break, I arrived one afternoon to pick up my daughter and a couple of faculty members approached me. They asked if I’d seen what the principal had made me. Apparently, the principal had decided not to waste time waiting for approval and necessary funds from the budget – he’d spent that day building me a ramp into the elementary school!! I was moved to tears! It sent me the message that I was just as important as the able-bodied parents; that I was wante

Jen is a 36 year old woman and mother with Spina Bifida Myleomeningecele L4 or L5. Jen can walk with crutches and braces that come up to just below her knees. Jen can feel everything except for her feet. She has a VP (Ventrical Perritoneal) shunt and has had 15 surgeries. Growing up, Jen lived a normal life. She took dance classes because she had a desire to, and took part in those classes as much as she could. Jen then moved onto singing and acting, and ultimately met her hu

Hi guys my name is Dawn fuller I'm new to the website . I was born with Spina Bifida Myelomeningocele. I am 49 years old. I have two wonderful nieces who I love dearly. They are my brother’s daughters . I'm pretty well independent. I can do pretty much anything I set my mind to doing. I never let it get me down at all! The thing I hate the most or one of them , is the fact of the matter people love to tell me that I can't do something! Well if you know anything about people w

DeAnna is from Michigan. She has Bi Polar disorder and she is Schitzophrenic . DeAnna also suffers from severe Anxiety and has panic attacks . Recently she started having Grand Mal seizures.DeAnna’a disability, the depression part makes it hard for her to function most times. It didn't used to be so bad. Not until her son passed away. That’s when It got a lot worse for her . DeAnna has mood swings .Growing up with mood swings made the other children mean to her . She was terr

My name is Dan Corcoran. I live in Pennsylvania, and am 43 years old. Although I do not have Chiari or Fibro I do know someone who has Chiari. I will introduce her in a later post. for now I will give some background on me. I have been active in things since I can remember. I was in Scouting, started in Cub Scouts and worked my way through Boy Scouts attaining the rank of Eagle. I joined the local volunteer fire company at 14 and ran calls for almost 20 years, until I got mar