Meredith Comas

As someone living with multiple chronic conditions since childhood, I understand the emotional, physical, and systemic challenges faced by those in the chronic illness and rare disease community. I’ve experienced the exhaustion of fighting for answers in the medical system while managing the realities of daily illness. Over time, I’ve also come to understand the collective trauma shared among patients, caregivers, and medical professionals as they confront the effects of long-term illness — the lack of resources, the emotional strain, and the physical toll these conditions take on every aspect of life. I have witnessed the effects of health policy that looks efficient on paper but remains inaccessible in practice for those living with chronic illness and disability.

My diagnoses and medical traumas do not define me, but they define what I fight for. They inspired me to join the expanding network of social workers in healthcare advocating for patients, caregivers, and health professionals affected by chronic illness and disability. I am humbled to expand my advocacy opportunities as a CDC ambassador among others with lived experience in amplifying chronic disease and disability voices in policy decisions. I must also acknowledge my family, especially my mother and my life partner, without whom I would not be where I am in my health journey today. It is my hope that my peers within the chronic illness community understand that my advocacy is not only for those with a diagnosis, but also for those who love, support, and fight alongside us. Together, I believe we can create meaningful change that brings humanity back into health policy – where policy helps stories of illness become ones of resilience, seeing the whole person behind every diagnosis.