Designed to help where medicine can't.
More Than Medicine
My life has been shaped by hospitals, surgeries, chronic illness, unimaginable loss, and countless moments when I wasn't sure what tomorrow would bring. Through it all, I discovered that healing doesn't always come from medicine alone.
Clinton
•
12 min read
For as long as I can remember, hospitals have been part of my life. Doctors' appointments, surgeries, braces, medications, recovery rooms, and waiting for answers became familiar long before most children ever had to think about those things. There were seasons when it felt like my life revolved around simply making it to the next appointment or recovering from the last one.
Medicine has saved my life more than once, and I'll always be grateful for the doctors, nurses, and medical professionals who have cared for me over the years. But as important as medicine has been, I eventually realized something even more powerful. The moments that changed me the most weren't always the surgeries or the treatments—they were the people. The people who stayed, who prayed, who laughed with me when life felt impossibly heavy, and who reminded me that I wasn't fighting alone.
That's why this story is called More Than Medicine.
Growing Up Different
Before I was old enough to understand what was happening, I was diagnosed with scoliosis. Every year meant being fitted for a new back brace designed to slow the curvature of my spine as I grew. While most kids probably would have dreaded those appointments, I tried to make them enjoyable. I'd pose while they wrapped the plaster casts around me, joke with the technicians, and do my best to make my parents and care team smile.
Around the same time, I was diagnosed with a lazy eye and spent hours each day wearing an eye patch to strengthen my vision. It wasn't always fun, but it became another reminder that my childhood looked different than most.
Just a few weeks before kindergarten, I fell from the top bunk of my bed while playing catch with my brother and broke my arm so badly it looked like the letter "S." The very next day, after getting the cast, I somehow managed to break the same arm again while jumping on a trampoline. Looking back now, those memories make me laugh, but even then I was learning that difficult experiences don't always have to steal our ability to smile.
A Life That Changed Overnight
During middle school, everything changed when I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Suddenly my life revolved around blood sugar checks, insulin injections, doctor appointments, carbohydrates, and learning how to manage a disease that wasn't going away.
Since then, I've experienced diabetic shock multiple times. There have been moments when I couldn't help myself and moments when complete strangers became the reason I made it home safely. Family members, friends, coworkers, EMTs, and people I'd never met before stepped in without hesitation when I needed them most.
Those experiences forever changed the way I see kindness. You never know when one small act of compassion could become someone else's miracle.
Some Wounds Can't Be Seen
As I grew older, more challenges followed. Eventually I underwent spinal surgery to correct my scoliosis, a procedure that marked another major chapter in my life. Not long afterward came another life-changing diagnosis: Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP), a hereditary condition that ultimately led to surgery to remove my colon.
Learning to recover became another chapter. Learning to adapt became another chapter. Finding hope became another chapter.
But perhaps the deepest wound wasn't physical.
During that same season, my eight-year-old nephew, Zachary, lost his life in a tragic farming accident. Nothing prepares you for a loss like that. Watching someone you love be taken far too soon changes your perspective forever. It reminded me how fragile life really is and how important it is to cherish the people we have while they're here.
"Some of life's greatest medicine doesn't come from a prescription. It comes from people who refuse to let us face life's hardest moments alone."
What Healing Really Means
Looking back over my life, it's easy to remember the surgeries, diagnoses, hospital stays, and medications. But when I think about what actually carried me through those seasons, I remember something else entirely.
I remember nurses who treated me like family. Friends who checked in when they didn't have to. Neighbors who stayed beside my hospital bed so my parents could attend Zachary's funeral. Coworkers who helped during diabetic emergencies. Complete strangers who chose compassion instead of looking away when I needed help.
Medicine helped keep me alive, but people helped me keep living.
That realization changed everything.
Why I Keep Sharing My Story
For years I wondered why my life seemed to include so many challenges. Why did it feel like one diagnosis would end only for another obstacle to begin?
Eventually I realized that maybe my experiences weren't meant to end with me. Maybe every surgery, every setback, every loss, and every lesson had the potential to become someone else's encouragement.
That's why I continue sharing my story. That's why Stronger Than Medicine exists.
Not because I believe I've suffered more than anyone else, but because I know every person has a story worth telling. Every scar tells one. Every diagnosis tells one. Every loss tells one. And when we're willing to share those stories, we remind people they aren't fighting alone.
"The scars we carry aren't just reminders of what we've survived—they're opportunities to remind someone else that hope is still possible."
What I Learned
- Healing isn't only physical.
- Some of life's greatest medicine comes from people.
- Kindness often arrives when we least expect it.
- Strength isn't the absence of struggle—it's choosing to keep moving forward.
- Every scar has the potential to become someone else's source of hope.
- Even our hardest chapters can become part of someone else's healing.
A Final Thought
No matter what you're facing today, remember this:
You are stronger than you think.
And you never know how much hope your own story could give someone else.
If you'd like to share your journey and encourage others, we'd love to hear your story.
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