According To Kori

The Random Thoughts of a Black Millennial Chick

Part 3: My Journey to Wellness

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This must be how Lil Wayne felt when he released his first Sorry for the Wait mixed tape (no comment on the second one). Or how director Malcolm D. Lee must’ve felt after his film sequel The Best Man Holiday hit theaters, 14 years after the classic, 1999 original… ‘Cause it literally took me forever to post this last part of my testimony. If this happened to be a mixed tape or a film, I’d probably title it, “My Apologies for the Delay” or “The Worst Blogger of the New Year,” respectively. Thankfully, this is neither.

In case you need a refresher on the first two installments (which is more than likely the case), I’ll give you ten minutes to read Parts One and Two. Ready, set, go.

And we’re back. Now, picking up where we left off…

I realized that there were some things I had to do (aside from taking medication every day) to really start witnessing some changes for the better in my life. I’m going to share those things with you here: [Read more…]

Part 2: Lost & Found Faith

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If you read my last post, I’m sure by now you’ve done your research on the foreign word I dropped on you right at the end — dermatomyositis (again, I’ll sound it out: dur-mat-oh-my-oh-sigh-tis). For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term — which I’m sure is about 99.9% of the folks reading this post — dermatomyositis is an autoimmune, connective-tissue disease that is characterized by severe inflammation of the muscles and skin (Sidenote: Normal muscle enzyme level range is below 270… My level was 1800 when I was diagnosed).

Now, getting back to where I left off in my last post… [Read more…]

I Don’t Look Like What I’ve Been Through (Part 1)

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Aside from overindulging in a ‘healthy’ assortment of delicious, artery-clogging food, I spent my entire Thanksgiving fellowshipping with loved ones and reflecting on how truly blessed I am. Meanwhile, many people spent the majority of their time waiting in never-ending lines for doorbuster deals instead of taking the time to appreciate the valuable blessings they already have (and that especially goes for all my melanin folk who should’ve been boycotting Black Friday this year). But that’s a well-deserved read for another day…

Anyway, my health is one of the main things I’m grateful for. As cliché as that statement may sound, for me, there’s more depth to it than you could ever imagine.

My health means waking up in the morning and being able to rise out of the bed without any help. It means being able to speak clearly. It means being able to walk down the block without feeling extremely over-exerted and defeated. Or being able to get up on my own after I stumble. It means being able to dress myself and style my hair. And it means looking in the mirror and being able to actually recognize the person staring back at me. For me, my health represents my victory over a severe condition that once limited me from doing all of these things, and more.

Two and a half years ago, I graduated from the illustrious Howard University (b.k.a. the Real HU) feeling like the next chapter of my life would be spent in a coffin instead of a cubicle. Towards the end of my senior year, I had begun developing symptoms, which included severe fatigue, muscle weakness and swelling, and literally right after I crossed the stage on May 12, 2012, my condition began taking a turn for the worse. What was supposed to be the happiest and most exciting period of my life was instead filled with depression, misery and anger — mostly, at God.

After graduating, I returned home to Michigan with my parents, since there was no possible way I could live on my own. After being admitted into the hospital and a month of waiting on my test results, I was finally given a diagnosis: dermatomyositis (pronounced dur-mat-oh-my-oh-sigh-tis).

To Be Continued…