Living With
Ulcerative Colitis Forced Her Out of Class 37 Times
A first-generation student tracked every urgent class exit in a notebook. By semester’s end, it held the record her professors had mistaken for poor planning.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Editor-in-chief & lead narrator
Maya Ellison
Maya is the voice that opens OurStories.Health. She listens to health journeys and writes them down with care.
Leads Living WithMaya Ellison is the lead narrator of OurStories.Health and a house byline written and directed by our editorial team. She reads what people share with us — their diagnoses, their waiting rooms, their small victories — and writes it back in a form other people can hold onto. She does not diagnose, prescribe, or advise. She tells stories, and she tells them honestly.
Stories by Maya
Living With
After an MG Flare, She Waited 11 Months for a Ground-Floor Unit
Twenty-eight stairs stood between a single parent and every errand. A notebook helped show what those stairs cost after a myasthenia gravis flare.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
With 38 Minutes of Concentrator Power Left, Her Niece Called 911
A winter outage cut power to Ruth’s oxygen concentrator. The warming center could not support medical equipment, so her niece tracked the batteries in a notebook until staying home was no longer possible.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
Numb Fingers Cost a Salon Owner $864. She Changed Her Grip.
Chemotherapy neuropathy made salon work slower and less certain. A paper appointment book showed Tasha what numb fingers were costing, and which changes let her keep working.
Maya Ellison · 8 min read
Living With
A Deaf College Student Got a $35 Fee When Captions Failed
Telehealth gave one student more control over her care, until failed captions and a missing interpreter left her locked out of an appointment she had attended.
Maya Ellison · 8 min read
Living With
After His School Reaction, Two Homes Shared One Lunch Notebook
A serious food reaction changed lunch for a grade-schooler and both his parents. One notebook helped them keep food consistent without turning each meal into a warning.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
With CKD, He Fasted on Days Off and Drank Water at Work
A warehouse worker wanted Ramadan to feel familiar. His kidney care team, his relatives, and the pill organizer on his table pointed toward a different kind of month.
Maya Ellison · 8 min read
Living With
At Camp, a Teen's Parents Stopped Watching Every Glucose Reading
A 15-year-old wanted camp counselors to protect her without tracking her. One index card helped her family draw a line between shared data and constant watching.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
She Paid $286 More After Mold Worsened Her Son’s Asthma
Her son could not return to the damp apartment where his breathing had worsened. The place she found cost $1,428 a month, forcing health into every part of the family budget.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
During RA Flares, She Stopped Lifting Her Toddler From the Floor
A mother of two rebuilt mornings, play, and physical closeness around the days when rheumatoid arthritis left her unable to lift her toddler.
Maya Ellison · 8 min read
Living With
She Used Airport Wheelchair Help for a Six-Hour Trip
Fibromyalgia had kept her from flying alone for four years. A notebook, wheelchair assistance, and a small comfort bag made a six-hour trip possible.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
Parkinson’s Made His Chisels Unsteady. He Rebuilt the Shop.
A woodworker changed his tools, teaching space, and designs after Parkinson’s disease altered his fine motor control. A notebook kept track of what still worked.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
POTS Ended Her Standing Workouts. A Notebook Helped Her Restart
Standing workouts left her dizzy, then depleted for days. She moved closer to the floor and began measuring exercise by what happened afterward.
Maya Ellison · 8 min read
Living With
A $4,862 Card Bill Led Her to Require Two Signoffs
After a hypomanic phase left her with a $4,862 card balance, she rebuilt her finances around automatic bills, a protected reserve account, and checks from her sister.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
Her Numb Hand Caused 17 Mis-Scans and Cost Her Overtime
A central New Jersey supervisor hid intermittent numbness until an error printout showed 17 mis-scans. Moving off the dock made work safer and cut the overtime paying her bills.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
A GLP-1 Made All-Day Tasting Hard. His Kitchen Had to Change
Fullness and food aversions disrupted a Texas restaurant owner’s most basic work habit. He gave trusted cooks more authority while staying responsible for every plate and paycheck.
Maya Ellison · 8 min read
Living With
An Ohio Supervisor Hid His GLP-1 in the Break-Room Fridge
At 34, a warehouse supervisor kept his weekly injection inside a lunch bag at work. Rotating shifts and open ridicule made privacy harder than the nausea.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
A Divorced Father Plans Custody Around 12-Week Cancer Scans
Targeted therapy has kept his metastatic lung cancer stable for more than two years. His paper calendar still ends at each scan.
Maya Ellison · 8 min read
Living With
Chemoradiation Put a Georgia Mother on Leave With $1,286 Due
At 46, Tasha kept clocking in to protect her paycheck and health coverage. Then fatigue, attendance points, and the end-of-month rent landed together.
Maya Ellison · 8 min read
Living With
At 81, Her Dentures Hurt and She Lost 14 Pounds
Her niece found the dentures in a kitchen drawer and little food in the refrigerator. The weight loss traced back to painful eating, costly groceries, and a dental clinic she could not reach.
Maya Ellison · 8 min read
Living With
His GLP-1 Medication Made Lunch Hard. He Asked for Privacy.
A warehouse worker on rotating shifts lost his appetite, then his quiet lunch break. A notebook helped him ask for small changes without telling coworkers why.
Maya Ellison · 8 min read
Living With
After Prostate Surgery, He Lost $425 on One Canceled Job
A 52-year-old plumber went back under sinks while managing urinary leakage after prostatectomy. His notebook showed what each difficult day cost.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
His Children Wanted Prostate Cancer Treated. He Chose Monitoring.
A retired teacher chose active surveillance for low-risk prostate cancer. His adult children had to learn that waiting could include tests, appointments, and a plan for change.
Maya Ellison · 8 min read
Living With
Her High School Class Learned What Her Tourette Tics Meant
During exams, holding back her tics made it harder to think. A notebook helped her explain what classmates were seeing and ask school staff for room to work.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
A Frozen PCSK9 Dose Cost a Truck Driver a $940 Load
An Oklahoma owner-operator learned that cab refrigeration could fail in small ways. A $17 thermometer now helps him protect his injections during 18-day runs.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
What She Carried Into the Date
Fourteen months after ostomy surgery, she wanted to date again. A pocket notebook held the disclosure lines she kept revising, and the fears she could not edit away.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
The Checkout Line Was the Costliest Part
She planned the grocery trip around the energy she had. Then the checkout line stopped moving, and an ordinary errand followed her home for days.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
When Summer Heat Feels Like Heavy Lifting
For people living with multiple sclerosis, high temperatures can trigger sudden symptom flare-ups. Navigating July requires gel packs, shadow-mapping, and cold logistics.
Maya Ellison · 5 min read
Living With
The Notebook She Carried Back to College
Eleven months after a schizophrenia diagnosis, a student returned with two classes, a quieter routine, and a notebook that helped her see what each day could hold.
Maya Ellison · 7 min read
Living With
The Arithmetic of the Plate
After a total gastrectomy, eating stops being an unthinking pleasure and becomes a daily exercise in precise timing, volume, and patience.
Maya Ellison · 5 min read