Who I am behind the symptoms

Sometimes I walk, sometimes I roll.

Hi, I’m Jenna. A human with stubborn hope, medical complexity, chronic pain, and a heart that still wants to help others even while navigating my own storms.

I live with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and its umbrella of comorbidity minions. Along with that, mental health illness. Conditions that have shaped my life in ways I never expected or imagined. My diagnosis didn’t arrive all at once; they came slowly, piece by piece, after years of symptoms that were over looked, minimized, or misunderstood. By the time I finally had names for what my mind and body was experiencing, I felt both relieved and exhausted. Validation and grief can coexist…. and often without realizing, they do.

I created this website because I realized something painful but true… People like us rarely get the full story, the full support, or the full picture.

In my experience I have had:

• Periods of mobility loss
• Times I needed my wheelchair more than my legs
• Flares that made simple tasks impossible
• Neurological symptoms that were dismissed
• Days where fatigue felt like my body was shutting down
• Mentally dissociated to feel safer in my reality
• and more..

Even though those experiences can feel isolating, I learned that they are REAL, COMMON, and WORTHY OF AKNOWLEDGEMENT. Not brushed off with “it’s anxiety” or “you’re fine”.

I’m not here to sugar coat anything. I’m not here to romanticize chronic illness or mental illness. And I am definitely not here to pretend to have it all figured out.

What I am here to do is share..

• What has helped me
• What I am still figuring out
• The medical details I wish someone had told me sooner
• The emotional truths that aren’t said out loud
• The small victories that deserve to be celebrated
• REALITY.

I am a real person behind my diagnosis. Someone who wakes up around 5am , navigates pain flares and fatigue, tries to gain strength at the gym safely, cares for a dog who reads my emotions like a second nervous system, and still wants to build a life that feels meaningful and beautiful.

If you see yourself in any part of my story, you’re not alone. You deserve answers, support, and a space where your experience is taken seriously.

THIS is that space. For you, for me, and anyone trying to make sense of a mind and body that doesn’t follow the rules.

Love always,

Jenna.