Jennifer Reeves

Learning that you’re Poz can be a scary moment, but it isn’t a deathsentence.

For LáDeia Joyce, being diagnosed with HIV was a total shock. After all, she was the girl who had a full panel STI/STD screening every quarter.

Living with an autoimmune disease is no easy thing — especially when it impacts your skin.

Perhaps you’ve watched him on American Idol. Maybe you love his music, or his writing.

Loïs Mills, author of the blog Gut Instinct, is known for honestly sharing the truth of her life as a blogger, media professional and 20-something with Crohn’s.

For Jalissa Brown, Hidradenitis Suppurativa began as it does for so many young people: subtly, and right around her pre-teen years.

For Micah Norgard, finding out that he was HIV+ was preluded by what many report experiencing: an ongoing, and particularly bad, flu.

When you first look at Jenna Bowman, it might be hard to see anything but a woman exuding confidence and beauty, but for Jenna, feeling comfortable in her own skin has been a life-long journey.

“I have always been very tuned into my body,” Nathaniel Holley, known to his readers as N.L. Holley, says of his HIV+ diagnosis.

Though Hidradentinitis Supparativa is certainly no laughing matter, Avery Love has found a way to share the reality of living with HS in a way that just might be the most relatable of all: a TikTok trend.

“For 7 years I thought I was disgusting, or that something was genuinely wrong with me,” Kayla Liptrot, known to her friends as Kells, began in a vulnerable Instagram post.

When 27-year-old Jude Duncan first discovered she had Psoriasis, it started innocuously enough. “I had just started my third year at university and noticed a small red mark growing above my left eyebrow,” she explained.

When it comes to Hidradenitis Suppurativa, there’s a lot that’s misunderstood. For starters, many people have never even heard of HS, let alone have a comprehensive understanding of the symptoms, or possible courses of treatment.

“HIV is just a silly little virus,” Raif Derrazi begins. “It consists of tiny specks of organic matter trying to live just like any other kind of life. That’s it. It’s not good or bad. It doesn’t carry any meaning.

Yalon Hutchinson’s battle with Hidradenitis Suppurativa started when most people’s do, around age 15. As a sophomore in high school, Yalon was on a field trip when she recalls feeling a strange sensation on her inner thigh.

For Selina Ferragamo, being diagnosed with Hidradenitis Suppurativa was not a straightforward task. The 25-year-old native Long Islander, who is currently a student and graphic artist, first started getting symptoms around 10th grade.

Maggie McGill was only 19-years-old when she first noticed painful bumps between her thighs. “I was working at a outdoor summer camp and the sweat and friction from walking outside worsened my symptoms.

For Chloé Longuet, her very first experience with HS happened around the summer of 2007. “I remember having what was a pimple, smack in the middle of my chest, small and located right at my bra band. It hurt.