What is life with NF like for Theresa?

This is called Neurofibromatosis and I hate it. I was 35 when I learned I had NF1 .I found out when the doctor noticed my son had birthmarks all over his body, and I had some tumors on my body. It was a hard concept to take in, I knew nothing about NF, so I looked into this. The more I read , the more difficult it was for me to read on. It scared me to know all the problems that NF causes, and what my son was going to have. I worried for him with all the challenges he was going to go through. Like me as a little girl, school was hard for me. I made it through school and graduated. It wasn’t easy but now I needed to find work. Another challenge I had to go through qas not knowing I had NF and that it was the cause of my disabilities. I hate this NF, And these tumors that pop up.I have no control of. 

I hated looking in the mirror because of these tumors. That’s all I saw, what were people thinking is that what they see? My friends and family saw me, not these tumors. I’ve been having them removed, so far I’ve had close to having 30 removed from my face.  I’m so happy, learning how to cope and understand this NF. Having tumors removed is making my life easier. For the first time in years I can look in the mirror and like what I see,

I knew no one that had this at the time I was alone, scared, and (WHY?)  It was a long time not knowing anyone UNTIL I met a friend whose son has the same thing as me, I’ve learned a lot, YES it’s still hard for me to conceive this, I admire the young man who has left home and has gone to college. I’ve learned a lot from him; how brave he is. I’ve met a wonderful lady who has the same thing as me. 

Having good friends who care for (me,) who keep telling me they see me, not the tumors.  For the first time I feel I have friends who like me and are not judging me from these tumors.