The story of Amanda
In August 2013, I was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis, a rare digestive disorder which affects the esophagus. Along with this disease, I was slapped with food allergies to gluten, dairy, eggs, and rice. While I had already known about gluten, which I am allergic to from Celiac Disease, the others were a large shock and greatly affected my ability to find any food to eat. Suddenly, I was a “chronic patient” taking many medicines to stay alive and “healthy” each day and wondering when I could start feeling normal again. It was a long battle, still having to push myself and attend school despite feeling so weak and tired. Each day I would struggle to make it through, and I was very lucky to have the support of my friends and family.
Eventually, it started becoming easier and I started feeling better. The medicines had made me “human again.” I was still frightened, though, because I was supposed to be applying to college and moving away, becoming my own person. How could I possibly move away with all of these newfound challenges that seemed to make me extremely dependent on my doctors, medicines, and my family?
It was difficult, but I was able to find the courage within myself to not let the medical setbacks hold me back from attending a dream college. I now attend New York University, thousands of miles away from home. Each day is a struggle, finding food, keeping up with my medicines, staying in touch with my doctors back home. However, when my mom visited me, she said she could tell how much I’d grown and matured from having to learn to deal with these issues myself. It was at that moment I realized I had made the right decision in going away for college. Without pushing myself, I would never have known that I have the capability to fight my disease every day and live my dream because my passion outweighs any burden a disease can put on my body.