Aimee Bird is a mom and wife working full time as a HR manger. With 3 daughters, a bunch of dogs, and birds her life is bustling and full. When not watching and cheering on her daughters at their many sport events you can find Aimee and her husband on the golf course. You can count on Aimee to be the first to lend a helping hand or encourage/support/motivate/ her friends and family.

Aimee’s daughter Marlee has an eating disorder called Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia is a psychological disorder characterized by abnormal eating habits, and an obsessive need to lose weight by not eating.

Recognizing the signs of anorexia is not always easy, but a diagnosis is extremely crucial and can be life saving. These signs can be different and subtle but things to look out for include: fatigue, insomnia, yellow or blotchy skin, thinning hair, constipation, irregular or absent periods in women, dry skin, excessive exercise, irritability and low blood pressure. Although an eating disorder can look different for anyone who suffers from it, it is important to reach out and seek help. If you or someone you know Is suffering from an eating disorder you can call or text the national eating disorder association hotline at (800) 931-2237

And like Marlee said in the episode “nothing lasts forever” you can fight for a better life.

Sal Lucatero (@thatoneguysal on Instagram) is, in every sense of the word, a community builder. He is an Events Manager for a tech company and works to build strong community networks through experiential events that help drive change and create a workforce in underdog communities. Using this same logic, he has found ways to bring together young people diagnosed with T1D and create a strong support system using real-life meetups and social media networks. He is currently obsessed with remodeling his home with his 130 pound, adopted Great Pyrenees, Clifford, and looking for ways to travel to some of the most exotic places on earth. When he’s not at home or working in the community, you can find him hanging out with his friends at a music festival or finding ways to build a new music festival from scratch.

Sal was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 19 years old and since then, has taken control of how to manage living with a chronic illness, especially as a young adult. Type 1, an autoimmune disorder, which occurs because of antibodies that destroy your pancreatic beta cells. Without these pancreatic cells, the body can no longer produce insulin.

This week we interviewed our own brother Jordan! In his free time he paints, plays video games, cooks, travels the world, and works on his home renovations. He enjoys watching gaming streams on YouTube and Twitch, and is always dreaming up new business ideas.

Jordan has obsessive compulsive disorder. OCD is a mental health disorder defined as Excessive thoughts (obsessions) that lead to repetitive behaviors (compulsions).

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead to compulsive behaviors.

There are more than 20,000 cases of ocd in the United States each year, and although treatment can help there is no cure.

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Gabby is a 24 year old future educator. She is currently getting her math education degree while working with students for the past 6 years. She has a strong passion for working with the youth and her goal in life is to make a difference in kids lives all throughout the community. While pursuing this passion, she has also been fighting cystic fibrosis. Her life consisted of countless hospital stays for 10 days minimum, lots of medications and breathing treatments. In 2018, her life was completely changed for the better when she started a gene modulator medication.

Along with her CF, she became mostly deaf throughout her late high school & early college years. Her hearing loss came from an IV medication she would go on while in the hospital. Since losing 85% of her hearing, she has received a cochlear implant in her right ear and has a new way she looks at life.

Cystic Fibrosis is an inherited disorder that damages the lungs and digestive system.

Cystic fibrosis affects the cells that produce mucus, sweat, and digestive juices. It causes these fluids to become thick and sticky. They then plug up tubes, ducts, and passageways.

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In this episode its just the two of us! We are going down the list of all our symptoms, the bad and the ugly. Let's start talking about how we actually feel and end the "I'm fine" stigma. You are doing great sweetie, with chronic illness there are good days and bad, so let's break it down and talk about what living with a chronic illness is truly like. 

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Alicia Quinn owns and operates Moonrise Aesthetics, a waxing and skincare studio in California. She relocated to back home from Northern California to raise her young daughter closer to family. When she isn't balancing work and mommy duty she can be found snuggling with her fur baby, reading tarot, gardening, or remodeling their 1960s house with her fiancé, Zephan.

Today we will discuss her journey with Sjogren’s Syndrome. With this disorder, the body's immune system attacks its own healthy cells that produce saliva and tears. Sjögren's often occurs with other such disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

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Jenni Stagis is a 35 year old pediatric RN, cop wifey and boy mama to 4 year old twins! You can find her and her family camping in the mountains any chance they get! She loves coffee, yoga and a good glass of wine. Her absolute favorite thing of all time are sunflowers... she just can’t get enough of them!

Jenni will be telling us about her journey with ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer often has no symptoms in the early stages. Later stages are associated with symptoms, but they can be non-specific, such as loss of appetite and weight loss. Ovarian cancer often goes undetected until it has spread within the pelvis and abdomen.

The American Cancer Society estimates for ovarian cancer in the United States for 2021 about 21,410 women will receive a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

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Danica McCall is a wife and mom of two amazing kids, plus a few fur babies 🐶🐱🐱She gets to work with her husband in ministry where they take advantage of many kid-free lunch dates together. When Danica isn’t working at the church or being super mom, you can usually find her roaming the aisles at Target, working out at home, grabbing coffee somewhere, or hanging out with friends and family. Danica enjoys expressing her creativity through writing, fashion, and planning rad birthday parties for her kids. Danica prides herself in making bomb smoothies and being the most entertaining children’s book narrator in her house.

This episode we will discuss Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder. With this disease, your immune system attacks your thyroid. The thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck. Thyroid hormones control how your body uses energy, so they affect nearly every organ in your body—even the way your heart beats. Without enough thyroid hormones, many of your body’s functions slow down.

Danica has found knowledgeable resources/information about thyroid related issues through Dr. Westin Childs who sends out weekly emails. She also enjoys following @hope_with_hashimotos.

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Hannah Hawkins spends her days working as a personal assistant solving problems and creating order out of chaos. When she has free time, you can find her reading, listening to music, or sitting by the water in San Francisco after work. Her simple pleasures are ordering Uber Eats and anything with next day delivery on Amazon Prime.

Hannah will be discussing endometriosis, a disorder in which tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside the uterus. With endometriosis, the tissue can be found on the ovaries, fallopian tubes or the intestines causing excruciating pain.

Endometriosis affects an estimated 1 in 10 women between the ages of 15 to 49, which is approximately 200 million women in the world. Endometriosis can mimic the symptoms of a urinary track infection and the condition can be found in adolescents and even in girls as young as 8 years old.This ill only hurt a little links:

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Ashley is a filmmaker, artist, and chronic illness advocate. She is also the director and producer of Behind the Visible, an upcoming documentary about living with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). Over the last three years, she and her husband embarked on a journey to create this film to raise awareness for the little-known condition. When she's not advocating for POTS, she loves to explore the US National Parks, paint, sing, and tend to her garden.

On this episode we will discuss all things related to filming a documentary about chronic illness while also having chronic illness. Behind the Visible premieres May 21, 2021 at 7pm CST. To register for the Virtual Premiere Night, @behindthevisiblefilm or visit www.behindthevisiblefilm.com

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