The story of Emerald
Growing up I had allergies and near frequent stomach aches. It all came to a head when I was 19 years old and ended up in the hospital with severe gastrointestinal symptoms. As a young woman, I was brushed off by numerous male doctors who attributed my abdominal pain to stress. It took another 5 years, numerous emergency room visits, and medical procedures like colonoscopies and endoscopies before I found a doctor who took the time to put the puzzle pieces together. It took us months of tracking down my previous lab work and biopsies to get all the pieces together and give me an answer at last. When I first googled “EGID” five years ago nothing came up. Since then, the results have slowly populated with more and more information, resources, and patient stories. I’ve watched, first hand, how effective advocacy can be. Over the past five years my EGID has gone into remission, but my voice has gotten louder. Each year I celebrate rare disease day and Eosinophilic Disorders Awareness Week (which is in May).