Shevon was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) at age six, and spent much of her childhood navigating severe illness, hospital visits, medications, and emergency surgery. Just weeks before her eighth birthday, a perforation in her small intestine led to a life-saving operation that removed a portion of her bowel.
While living with IBD has presented significant challenges, it has also helped shape the strength, perseverance, and self-awareness that guide Shevon today.
Over the years, she has navigated mental health challenges related to the realities of growing up with a chronic illness, including complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder, and disordered eating. She has also worked through addiction-related challenges and the ways these experiences can affect relationships and daily life.
Today, she works closely with a healthcare team that supports both her physical and mental health. Through therapy, exercise, self-care, and healthier coping strategies, she has built a life centered on healing, growth, and resilience.
One of the most important lessons she has learned:
"Self-compassion goes a long way. Be gentle with yourself, listen to your body, and adapt to the way it operates. You are worthy of living a fulfilling life, and your challenges do not define you."
She credits much of her progress to the support of a trauma and addictions therapist who has helped her better understand and process the ways chronic illness has shaped her experiences.
Today, she channels those experiences into helping others through therapeutic work with elderly and disabled individuals, while continuing to prioritize her own well-being and personal growth.
Her journey is a powerful reminder that mental and physical health can be deeply connected, and that many of the effects of chronic illness are not always visible. Through it all, she has continued to move forward with determination, compassion, and hope.
"I have learned that I am stronger than I know."