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One mother, Libby, has suffered from neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) ever since she was born. She inherited the hereditary disease from three generations of women in her family, and like them, developed the telltale symptom of having thousands of tiny tumors grow across her entire body.
For Libby, the symptoms become notably prominent when she was in elementary school. There, her peers would mercilessly mock her, calling her names like “Toad” and “Lizard Breath,” a taunt that derived from Libby’s birth name, Elizabeth.
As time passed, Libby changed her name to avoid drawing these correlations; avoided going outside as much as possible; and simply learned to deal with her chronic pain, itches, and stares.
“I just wish I didn’t look like a circus freak,” Libby confessed.
Although Libby still grapples with intense insecurity and fear about her condition, she has made a very concerted effort to speak out about it.
Neurofibromatosis is a rare disease, but it does occur to a good number of people in America as it is passed down from one generation to the next. Libby has since started a Facebook group, “Faces of NF,” to gather her fellow NF sufferers and form a safe space for everyone to speak with each other about their respective experiences.
More recently, Libby also appeared on an episode of The Doctors to talk about her condition.
There, the doctors are incredibly receptive to her story and commend her for facing her insecurities by being the one who created a community for everyone online.
To honor Libby for everything she’s done for the NF community, the doctors on the show have decided to offer her an expense-covered surgery that will help reduce the appearance of her tumors.
“It would be my biggest dream come to true to take my hands against my skin and feel smooth. It would be the greatest thing in the entire world to happen for me,” Libby said tearfully at the offer.
You can hear more of her story here:
