Walking On Water
— Shalana Jordan

Warm tears welled up in my eyes, and I could feel my neck and face turning red. Something I’d long hoped for was slipping out of my hands. So I asked the question I was burning to ask: “I have dual enrollment. If Medicare won’t cover tirzepatide [often known by…

I winced as I stepped down onto a stair with my left foot. A swirl of dull, aching pain was joined by the feeling of skin tearing and puffiness. It felt like my ankle had an inflated life preserver wrapped tightly around it, cutting off more of my circulation with…

Long, voluminous, deep brown wigs; charcoal eyeliner; fluffy eyelashes and lash glue; sparkly rich tones of russet and copper eyeshadow; shaped and ombre drawn eyebrows; blood red lipstick coated in shiny gloss; perfectly manicured, gold glitter acrylic overlay on my nails; and beautiful, flirty sundresses: I use them all to…

I nervously tapped my foot while waiting in the examination room to meet my new nephrologist. I could hear him talking in the next room, so I knew he was finishing up there. When he walked in, he extended his hand and introduced himself. But he stumbled on his words…

I grimaced, pulling my arm back in reaction to the pain surging through my forearm. I’d bumped a large purple bruise when I lifted a box. Rubbing my hand over the bruise, I wondered, Where did that come from? Come to think of it, I had several new large and…

I’ve always liked to think that age is just a number. Being older doesn’t mean you have less value, and being younger doesn’t mean you lack life experience. Our society seems to place more value on youth, but in the rare and chronic disease world, I’ve learned that being young…