About dearfelicia.

Dear Felicia is an inspirational digital safe space for people facing life’s obstacles and challenges. This blog will feature information for all invisible diseases and illnesses but also include stories of triumph, perseverance, and even some failures. Because failure is a breeding ground for success.

A Brief History Of Me

I started out like any other kid in the country, running through fields, taking care of animals, and watching hay being baled. But I was affected by two invisible illnesses early on.  My mother by the time I was born had both Lupus (SLE) and Type 2 Diabetes. Outside of the skin that peeled on her arms and hands from the sun if you didn’t know why you still wouldn’t know she was sick.  

After my mother passed in 2000 I sort of forgot about the illnesses except to fight against or cautiously test myself annually to make sure if I have the issues I catch them early. Through each of my 4 pregnancies, I worried about gestational diabetes for the possibility of it continuing after.

In 2009 my first change and tragedy befell my family when we lost our first son to pregnancy issues and an internal infection.  With the subsequent pregnancies, I was high risk but that wasn’t the only change. I noticed I was getting snappy at little things, my body was hurting from exercise or minor bumps longer and more than usual and I was TIRED all the time.  By 2012 after my last pregnancy, I knew this wasn’t just new mom tiredness or stress, something was off. During my annual physical, my doctor suggested I go to see the clinic’s RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis doctor). At the time he diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia.  Since then I’ve been through multiple tests as well for Lupus and MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and while there are lesions in my brain I’m missing the secondary lesions in my neck or optic nerve. So as of today, I have Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, and Chronic Pain with a side of unexplained neurological issues ;). 

While going through all the testing I found the individual communities helpful in finding others who had the same issues as me, but I also found that a lot of what I had and others had while “Nationally” known were not seen by those who aren’t affected by them in any way.  So this led me to my blog. My mission is “To create a community for those living with invisible diseases, those who care for them, and those looking to educate themselves on invisible diseases to make them more visible.”