I am a 21 year old college student living with chronic pain. My symptoms have worsened over the past few years and my doctors have tried just about everything to get me better. In just a few years, I went from an energetic, happy, healthy high school kid to a cranky, sleepy, sick, pain-ridden lump on the couch. And my mom has watched it all. My mom, like many others, watched me grow, play, learn, goof off, get hurt, think too much, and have my heart broken. But unlike a lot of moms, she had to watch me go from the high-energy, happy-go-lucky daughter she once knew to the sluggish, irritable, sleep-deprived humanoid creature I am today. Seeing the change in myself is hard enough. I can't imagine what my mom feels.

So Mom, here's to you:

For all the Emergency Room trips and doctor visits,
For all the sleepless nights and arguments,
For all the tears you saw me cry,
For all the headaches we both got trying to find answers,
For all the time spent driving,
For all the prescriptions you picked up for me,
And the side effects I had/have that you have put up with,
For all the rude doctors and mean nurses we have put up with,
For all the bills and hair-pulling-out...

Thank you.
You have kept me sane and grounded through all this. There are times when I'm so sick and in so much pain that I feel like I won't ever get better, but you won't let me give up and live in a medicated stupor. You keep arguing with doctors even when I can't. You keep looking for new specialists when my anxiety doesn't want to let me go through the hell of new patient intake again. You are the reason I'm strong enough to keep fighting, to get better, to be me again. You are my mom and you will forever be my best friend and support. I love you.

Happy Mother's Day.