Over the last 20 years, author Stephanie Kelley has run the gauntlet with CFIDS. It's cost her jobs, friendships, and her self-respect. She has sacrificed and unwillingly given-up so much throughout the years that it is hard for her to remember life before CFIDS began. However, through it all, she has managed to become a better person and has learned to accept her reality. This disease does not dictate to Stephanie how she conducts her life anymore. She knows if CFIDS disappears from her life completely, she has forever been changed, and will never be the same again.