Know Rare writer Gina DeMillo Wagner’s new memoir, Forces of Nature explores powerful themes related to caregiving and rare disease.

Many people living with rare disease describe life in terms of before and after: Before a diagnosis, they experience frustration, confusion, and exhaustion as they see various doctors and try to make sense of their symptoms. After a diagnosis, they may experience waves of relief mixed with a determination to find treatments – and often, grief about the impacts of the disease on their lives. No one understands how it feels to step across that invisible before-and-after line better than Julia Lefelar, Executive Director and Co-founder of the MOG Project.

Orit recently joined the Know Rare business development team with the goal of helping other caregivers and patients learn more about how to engage with clinical studies and other opportunities for support. Here’s how she is reframing attitudes towards life with a rare condition.

As a child, Becky Tilley often felt like she didn’t fit in or wasn’t as successful as other kids in most academic areas… except for one subject: English. Her love for reading and writing returned in her adulthood, when she started blogging about living with a rare disease called Koolen-de Vries. Learn about her newest book, Thrive Rare: Embracing the Uniqueness Within, born of her desire to spread hope.