There’s a picture of me on facebook where the caption underneath reads, “Christmas of 2009 right before I got sick,” to which someone commented, “You mean, before you got well.” I liked that, so that’s how I shall start my story. Initially, I thought, “Why would anyone want to hear my story, a story of death and survival both virtually at the same time?” Everyone has a story to tell. And I was sure mine was no different, only set apart by circumstance and people. But when I was actually asked to share my story in front of hundreds of people, I was honored. Apparently, they liked what they heard because word got around and, before I knew it, I was speaking and sharing everywhere any time I was asked. The story I told seemed to touch the hearts of my audience in a way I had not anticipated. I knew how the contents of my story made me feel but I had never before thought about how it made other people feel. I still don’t know how they feel; I only know what they tell me.

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But I can certainly tell you how I felt when the doctors at Duke University Hospital gave me two to three months left to live on this earth. This is a story of fear, internalized oppression, addiction, death, disease, recovery, and stigma.

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It is much more than that, however. I am currently writing my first novel, more so an autobiography, but it means even more than that to me. I am also a graduate student studying Clinical Social Work in Boston to be a clinical therapist. My aim is to attempt to touch the lives of and help all kinds of people in any way I can through the words in this blog, my novel, in the field as an activist, advocate, and therapist, and anywhere else I may be called upon to do so. If anyone has anything they would like to share with me, or have any questions, please feel free to share or ask. There will be more content in the coming days and weeks as I am just getting started with the blog.