Nearly 1 in every 2 Americans suffer from an invisible, chronic condition.
On this blog, you’ll find stories from real people dealing with real chronic conditions. If you have an invisible illness, know that you’re not alone. If you don’t, know that one (or more) of your friends probably does.
The more we can educate people, the easier it will be to live with invisible illness.
My name is Rachel Meeks. I have endometriosis, an incurable chronic pain condition, IBS, a digestive illness, and PCOS, which causes irregular periods and infertility. After hiding my illness for a long time, I began to get upset at the mistreatment of people with illness. I realized the only way I could help was to speak out, make some noise, wear my heart on my sleeve, and confess that I am not well.
This blog is all that noise!
Want to share your story? Have an idea for an event? Let us know!
Email diehardguardgirl@yahoo.com
Do I Look Sick? 
Hey Rachel,
Just want to let you know I just featured you and your blog in my latest post on healthdemystified.com, “RISING STARS IN THE HEALTH AND FITNESS BLOGOSPHERE: 9 health and fitness bloggers who will entertain, inform, and inspire the world in 2012”
Here’s the link: http://healthdemystified.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/rising-stars-in-the-health-and-fitness-blogosphere-9/
Congratulations on the nomination, and I look forward to seeing what you have to say in your upcoming posts,
Eric
Thanks for the visit… I work on a life support unit helping people breathe, I am thankful for your ministry.
Thank you very much for checking out my site too! 🙂 Always nice to make a new friend.
Love the idea of this blog! Thanks for following mine and I’ll be following yours. Eager to see more posts from you – You’re very creative!
Thanks so much! Glad to make a new friend. 🙂
A very happy hello to an inspiring blogger! I just wanted to let you know that I’ve nominated you for the “Very Inspiring Blogger Award”. 🙂 Don’t feel obligated to go through the acceptance steps, I know how crazy life can get with busy schedules and such. I wanted to share your blog with my readers because I wanted them all to see how great you truly are. You have helped motivate me to keep my head up, and this is kinda my way of thanking you.
If you’re interested in accepting the award, the details are here:
http://teenswithpots.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/inspiring-blogger-award/
Thank you for being you! Hope you’re doing well 🙂
Thanks! I just posted on your blog, then realized I’d accepted the award but I don’t know if I actually thanked you. SO THANK YOU. Ahhhh.
THank you so much for your kind comment!! I know i will enjoy reading your blog!! I do have a invisible illness :)~ not fun!! I am doing so well physically now, and people think I am doing great to the point I am back to normal only a month after major brain surgery! haha they dont see the hearing loss, the vision trouble, the vertigo, the ringing in my ears, the confusion adn the short term memory loss, but yea, i am doing great!! I chose to be anyway :)))) Keep up the good work!!
Thanks so much! Yup, it’s hard to live with things people can’t see. My sister had brain surgery when she was 5, so I know a little bit what you’re going through. Keep on keeping on!
Rachel, what a wonderful way to give back and help others. I think you are genius to come up with such a concept for a blog and I find the various posts interesting and an eye opener. Thank you, for checking out my blog as well. Keep up the great works and God Bless!
Thanks so much for such a kind comment! I enjoy your blog very much as well. So great to connect with a new blogger friend!
I have given you the WordPress Family Award. For information and rules go to my blog: http://allergictolifemybattle.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/wordpress-family-award/
Thank you so much! I’m honored. 🙂
Hi Rachel, I only recently started reading your blog occasionally, and I am so sorry to hear you have experienced so much pain for what seems like a looooong time. I had no idea. I am also wondering, and you don’t have to share this if you don’t want to, if you have been given any diagnoses yet or if you are still trying to figure that one out? Maybe you’ve already mentioned that in other posts, but just by browsing I wasn’t able to find anything specific. Praying for you either way!
Thanks so much! Yes, I have been diagnosed with endometriosis and “IBS” which is hard to consider a real diagnosis. I’ve had two surgeries for endo so far, with more on the horizon probably.
Thanks for reading and for the prayers! Currently I’m doing worse than I have in a while, so they’re much appreciated!
Rosa was nice enough to do an interview for me on here too, since you know us both you should check it out! https://doilooksick.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/rosa-fontana-proper-use-of-the-semi-colon/
Congratulations! I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Award! This award is also known as the “favorite blog award”. And since I enjoy reading your blog and hearing how you life a full life despite chronic illness I just had to include you in my list of recipients! Check out my post to find out the steps to accept your award, and keep up the great blogging! http://joysturn.com/2013/10/20/honored-with-the-liebster-award-2-actually-woo-hoo/
Wow, thank you so much! 🙂 Really needed this little ray of sunshine today
I have given you a “shout out” on my blog – my version of a Liebster award because I can’t afford to expend the energy writing or answering questions. If you want to pay it forward, please highlight 10 bloggers on your blog. If you’d like to participate even further, you can come up with 10 questions for them to answer and/or answer the questions posed by Jess or Marie (linked on my blog: http://elizabethmilo.com/2013/11/10/award-season/). Mostly, I wanted to say thank you for your openness and incredibly entertaining writing. You’ve cracked me up and brought a tear to my eye – that’s skillful!
Thanks again, and thank you for the kind words here. 🙂
Rachel – I have nominated you for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award for being such a loyal follower and supporter. http://allergictolifemybattle.wordpress.com/2013/11/26/dragons-loyalty-award/
Thanks again!
I sent you an email. You were one of my e-book winners. Please reply to allergictolife@kathryntreat.com
Rachel, thank you for being the voice for so many others. As a nurse, I know there are many who are silent and lack your courage, so keep on going for them. So many people live with chronic illness of body, mind and spirit…
Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement, and thank you for helping so many people through your blog and career. 🙂
Thank you for visiting my blog. I’m glad you liked my post and hope that you come again. Blessings, Natalie 🙂
Likewise! 🙂
I’m so glad you visited my blog again and that you liked my post. May you be blessed with a wonderful and pain free day. Natalie 🙂
Our family has been dealing not only with an invisible illness, but a rare one. My son is a teen, which complicates things a bit more. Ended up taking him out of school, and when he runs into kids he used to go to school with he gets comments like, “I thought you died.” It is awful. Coping with a chronic illness is hard enough.
I found your blog through a Disneyland Post. We struggled through one trip. We are anticipating another. Kudos to you for your post.
Wishing you “spoons” today and in the future.
Thanks so much! It’s very hard to be young and ill, I can’t imagine having to leave school. I hope that struggling through Disneyland did some good, it sounds like it if you’re planning a return trip! I wish you and your son all the best. Please know there are many youths with severe chronic illness and you are NOT alone! A great resource I contribute to is The Pillow Fort magazine for young people with chronic illness – http://doilooksick.com/2014/06/25/do-i-look-sick-featured-in-issue-2-of-the-pillow-fort/ if your son likes reading, he should check it out! And of course there are lots of wonderful blogs too. 🙂 Always happy to make a new friend. I hope you’ll keep in touch!
Hi Rachel: Just found your DO I LOOK SICK website/blog. Sorry to hear that you suffer from endometriosis. Please visit our website to see if there’s anything we can help you with. We have tons of info available in many formats. Best of luck!
Thanks so much for reaching out! Your website is very cool as well, thanks for linking me up! 🙂
Hi, Thanks for liking my Stan Lee quotes. Who knew that would bring a Fibro person to an Endo person? My personal blog is https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/ If you ever want to drop by there. Not saying you have to or anything, but that’s where I do discuss at times my things like, looking healthy and needing help only to have people laugh and ignore you, or parking in a handicap spot only to have people yell at you and call you names because you look healthy.
Very glad you clicked that like button.
Much Respect
Ronovan
Thanks so much! Love some good Stan Lee quotes, and love meeting fellow writers. It’s lovely to connect with a “fibro person,” though I’m sorry to hear you’re sick. I am glad, however, to have found another like-minded person. Thanks so much for visiting! I’ll definitely be checking up on your blogs from time to time. 🙂
I love your blog. I will feature it soon on my website. One suggestion: Use a slightly larger font. Can be hard to read for those of us with low vision, especially on devices. Tx for your great work
Thank you! I’ve worked to make the site more accessible over the years. Remember that you can change the settings on your device to make all text larger as well! 🙂 thanks for stopping by!