Adversity Essay

Merriam-Webster defines adversity as “a state or instance of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune.” While many people encounter adversity daily, everyone approaches it differently. While challenging adversity some people fade into the background. But there are those of us who rise up to the fight and thrive in the face of adversity, we refuse to let it hold us back from living.

My experience with adversity or difficulty began when I was very young. According to my mother, her pregnancy with me was normal and uncomplicated. She says that other than a huge disagreement on my birth time my birth was uneventful. My first couple months of life were also ordinary-I did all the normal baby things cry, eat, sleep and repeat. Then, one day when I was about six months old things changed. My breathing was

The inferior lobe, lower part, of my left lung is scar tissue and I don’t get as much as oxygen as the “normal” person does. I spent a large amount of time in the hospital in an oxygen tent during the first few years of my life. The doctors put me on a transplant list, but, my mom argued with the doctors and told them that she didn’t want me to have a transplant. When I was three, I received a diagnosis of asthma. This new diagnosis led to more hospital time, more medications and more doctors informing my mom I needed a transplant, still, she resisted.

The doctors were adamant that without a transplant, I wouldn’t live past four years of age. Eventually, the days turned into months and the months passed into another year and I had beaten the odds. I was still sick a lot, made frequent trips to the hospital and faced an uncertain future. The doctors continued to have a less than ideal outlook on my life and advised that I would be lucky if I made it to twelve years old. They said that I wouldn 't be able to run, swim and be as active as other kids and that I wouldn 't have a normal life. I saw that as a