invisible

"It's a stabbing, pulling pain," Barnes said. "Almost like contractions - they come and go in waves."

Barnes discussed the many myths surrounding Endometriosis that she has come to learn that many people still believe.

Being diagnosed at a young age, Barnes has undergone surgery to attempt to "remove" the issue and/or lesson the symptoms. When those attempts did not work, Barnes recalled her mother sitting with her and crying - apologizing for it not being enough to take her pain away.

"It's debilitating and it can feel hopeless sometimes."

Regardless of her struggles, Barnes finds comfort in knowing that her family and husband will always be her biggest support system.

Barnes wants people to know that there are ways to get through these things. She has come to make the best of the other 3 weeks of every month and learned to enjoy every moment more and more.

After recently deciding with her husband that they wanted to conceive, Barnes is excited to announce to her friends and family that she is almost three months pregnant. The couple did not know for sure if they would be able to have a child due to Barnes' condition, however, were pleasantly surprised to be expecting so soon in their journey.

Scoggins struggles with depression, anxiety, bipolar, OCD, ADHD, high functioning Aspergers, and auditory Tourette's.

He spent much of his younger days at River Valley Behavioral Health Center as he was unable to spend more than a year at a time at any elementary school, he said. He finds it hard to function on a daily basis with the multiple conditions that he battles.

According to Scoggins, it is often very hard to control his thoughts, feelings and actions.

"There is no one 'look' for these things. You wouldn't know that I have them," he said.

Maintaining school, work and friendships has been challenging and Scoggins said that he often finds that people still don't understand these conditions. Scoggins recently quit a job due to finding out that his coworkers were talking about him behind his back.

"I didn't want to have to go back and face them," he said. "It just didn't seem worth it."
Finding the positives in situations and focusing on the present has served to be very helpful for him. Scoggins talked about the coping mechanisms that he has developed and ways to "mask" his struggles. Listening to music, going to therapy, and practicing things such as the "yet method" are a few of the things he is doing. Scoggins also finds that beatboxing helps with his Tourettes and ADHD, and enjoys watching the therapists that he follows on TikTok.

Scoggins finds comfort in surrounding himself with like minded people and appreciating the things that make him unique.

"I have a group of people I can get together with and take my mask off and just be myself."

Coy has also struggled with mental health including bipolar, PTSD and borderline personality disorder, since her early teenage years and says that her mental health and Fibro tend to play off of one another.

"Your depression and anxiety come up, and your body gets worse – you hurt already, and it makes your mental health worse. They like to work together."

Throughout her medical journey, Coy has experienced a lack of belief and support from those around her, including doctors.

"I think some family even still doubt that it's as bad as it is on my bad days."

Coy spoke on how health care professionals would often think that she was searching for pills when she attempted to seek treatment and answers.

Due to the lack of treatment options, Coy's trips to the doctors have lessoned as she has built up a "tolerance" to the pain, she said.

"There's not a whole lot of options out there for Fibromyalgia."

She often finds it hard to open up about her struggles, even with her family members, including her two sisters that also struggle with Fibro.

"We all just kind of tough it out on our own and don't talk about it much."

At the beginning of her diagnosis, and as a therapeutic way to express her feelings, Coy started a mental health and invisible illness blog to provide a platform for others struggling with unseen battles. Since going back to work and struggling with constant fatigue, Coy has been unable to continue her blog in the years following, but plans to get back into it when she can.

"People don't understand it, so they judge it."

Since learning better coping skills for her pain and making lifestyle changes, Coy was able to teach herself how to put a positive spin on things in life.

While she has accepted that she may not be able to completely rid herself of the pain she feels, Coy is working to no longer allow the weight of her illness to keep her down. She is learning how to "break the chains" of her struggles and keep moving forward regardless.

"Every day is hard to get up out of the bed," Arnold said.

Massive swelling of her legs, hives, inability to be in the sun or outside, migraines and many other issues have accompanied her condition. She finds it difficult to interact with he children and husband and carrying out daily tasks can often prove to be daunting.

"People think I'm faking because I don't look sick. I wish they would understand and stop judging."

Arnold quit her previous job two years ago when she found herself needing a break to cope with her pain, but found herself needing to go back due to financial struggles. Charity now works as a janitor at the Beaver Dam Walmart and has been relieved to be back to working again. Keeping her mind busy helps, but also takes a toll on her physically, she said.

"I don't know how much longer I can do this job, but I have to work," she said.

Charity has found herself worrying less about what people think and accepting those who love and care for her into her life.

"It has made me realize what I have and appreciate those things more."

Tick related illnesses have only recently become well known and researched. While these diseases are more prevalent in some parts of the world than others, much of the public is still unaware of the severity of the effects of even a single bite from an infected tick.

"Doctors won't listen half of the time. Getting medical help for this stuff is a joke to them," Frames said. "Some still don't know what it is."

Frames has had to travel out of state, and sometimes across the country, to find expert doctors on tick-borne illnesses that will treat and take her seriously.

"People think I'm lying about these things but how can you make this stuff up?"

Frames' immune system has become so compromised, that she barely leaves her home and feels as if she is safest when she can be secluded. She currently lives in the basement of her 87-year-old mothers house where they must take care of each other.

"It's lonely. Some days it might not feel like I have much, but I made it this far in life and God's not gonna let me down now. "