It's kind of a long story, but here's the short version

In 2015, I was in a rollover car accident that was admittedly the most gentle rollover car accident in the history of rollover car accidents. No one was injured and the car wasn’t even scratched—but hanging from my seatbelt was apparently not what my body was built for, and I’m not being dramatic when I say my life has not been the same since.

At the time, I was in my junior year of college, studying creative writing. I’d been managing my chronic illness pretty well up to that point, having been diagnosed with POTS at the Mayo Clinic in 2008—but the lifestyle changes that worked before suddenly didn’t, and I found myself resting on campus benches because I couldn’t keep my eyes open, skirting around my beloved homework, and losing weight fast.

When my local doctors couldn’t make a dent in my symptoms, they shipped me back to the Mayo Clinic to be poked, prodded, and tested over the course of two weeks. It was rough—but while I was there, I met my first chronically ill friend—and I’m not being dramatic when I say my life has not been the same since.

She was the one who encouraged me to start drawing comics consistently—and she set up my Instagram, so if you found me through that, you can thank her. We became instant best friends, and when we both returned home, it was hard having my best friend all the way across the country while we both got sicker and sicker.

Little did we know that, in less than a year, we’d be meeting up again—this time in Connecticut, with a shared diagnosis and undergoing the same surgical procedure.

Life hasn’t been what I expected, but it’s made for some pretty incredible stories and some pretty fun comics. Thanks for joining me in this space!