Seventeen was grim. There would be weeks when the scramble looked to be paying off. She could breathe easier. Her limbs felt like they belonged to her again. She would get chipper and feel confident that she had some control over her life and her health. She’d look ahead, she’d think ahead and plan ahead […]

Seventeen started out well. Vanessa excelled at school. She had an active social life. She had a job after school, at the public library, three nights a week. She was talking about college. She had a wide circle of friends and finally, a driver’s license, and everything about her life was lighter and brighter. The […]

Vanessa spent most of sixteen at home. Her hair and eyebrows grew back, her color returned, and a glow returned to her skin. She lost the lethargy, her eyes brightened, her posture improved, she gained stamina (and weight), and became a healthy sixteen-year-old. There were still routine examinations. Her doctors were relaxed, their comments were […]

Fifteen was tough. It started out, at least from Vanessa’s perspective, muddled. She was home and then she was in the hospital and then she was back home. Her team – she had to have a whole team of doctors? – grew bigger, and then things were discovered by one test or another, and the […]

At fourteen, Vanessa Hoffman started complaining of headaches and fatigue. Her stomach was finicky, and her appetite dwindled. Sometimes she found herself out of breath and sometimes her hands and legs felt numb and sometimes her joints hurt. Her balance would go off intermittently. She answered adults with “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am” and mostly […]