Meghan's Story
If most teenage girls struggle to accept their bodies, those marked by chronic illness have an even harder battle to fight.
Nineteen-year-old Meghan bears the scars of dozens of IVs. Her mother confides: "For years, I would take my beautiful daughter shopping, only to have her burst into tears at the sight of her body. The deep sense of shame she experienced was something I was not prepared to handle."
For Meghan and others with chronic illnesses, the body can seem a source of betrayal. Meghan remembers a time when her body baffled even the doctors. After six years, they still didn't know why she required constant antibiotics to keep her lungs clear.
"If they can't help me, I guess I'm going to die — because it hurts to breathe,"
Meghan said at 6 years old. Finally, bronchial electron microscopy revealed a tiny defect in Meghan's cilia that rendered them motionless. Secretions produced by Meghan's lungs were trapped in her airways.
Meghan's diagnosis of primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) answered some questions, yet posed others. She needed airway clearance help. But what kind? If chest physical therapy (CPT) four times a day was the answer, how could Meghan's mother, a single parent, administer all of her daughter's treatments?
Fortunately, her insurance company approved a respiratory therapist (RT) to deliver one daily treatment to supplement her mother's three treatments. All activities had to be scheduled around the arrival of the RT, which only exacerbated Meghan's sense of being "different."
Still the infections continued. Meghan started each school year, but usually required home-schooling halfway through.
Things began to change when Meghan's doctor prescribed The Vest® Airway Clearance System. Meghan's health began to improve. She joined the girl's basketball team, ran daily, danced, and worked part-time at a coffee shop.
Gradually, Meghan is claiming her body back. When she asked her mom if she could visit a body artist to celebrate these developments, her mother was "reluctant, to say the least."
They discussed the pros and cons of body art. "This would be my chance to choose how my body is marked,"
Meghan pleaded. Her mother supported Meghan's need to reclaim her body in a way she felt was positive. While Meghan planned the design, location and symbolism of her tattoo, her mother researched body artists, finally agreeing with Meghan, on an artist respected by local health care professionals. Meghan chose the hardy tiger lily for her tattoo, "because they can bloom anywhere."
Meghan is blooming. As a college freshman, she is considering a career in medicine.