Krystine Hoffman

I received a diagnosis after 40 years, and that is not a typo or exaggeration. My neck was fractured when I was young. It got bad in 2001 when I graduated from college and got in a severe car accident.

I rear-ended a pickup truck. The pain was there, but it became much more acute. I used to be very active, very clumsy, but active. I found out early on that individual sports were better than team sports!

In 1999, I lost a bunch of weight (probably 50 pounds). According to my doctor, that was my problem. If I lost the weight, my life would be perfect, but that is not what happened.

I have been journaling everything I eat and my weight daily. That was supposed to help.

Nope. The pain was just as bad, with some even worse. I lost my job because of the pain. I lost my job, along with my insurance, and alcohol was the next logical pain reliever. I was broke, but I found those with the highest alcohol content were most effective, so I drank a lot.

I held on until age 45, and my whole life went up in flames. Lies kept me from the career I wanted. I was in the final two weeks before I would've graduated when the representative called and informed me that my previous boss had written to my school, saying I had submitted incorrect information.

Everything he said was conjecture, and I have evidence that I put my hours in correctly; therefore, there should not have been a problem. My college suspended me without considering the 100 pages of time-stamped texts from him. I even paid 11k for a lawyer. They went against 23 items in their own employee handbook.

The months the accredited college screwed around with me have made time stand completely still in a really bad way. In November 2025, I was able to go back, but I am having a lot of issues with fear. Also, everything they said to me has stuck. I was devastated and lost. I don't know how to forgive. My entire life has been about pain.

I misdiagnosed over and over, so I just accepted it until January of 2025. My therapist pissed me off. She minimized the pain I was talking about and said I pretty much screwed up my own life, and I tried to explain, and she raised her voice. No more therapist for me. It is a 6-month wait, and still, you just don't know who you are going to get in there.

My life is about finding the next comfortable spot. I suffered abuse in many abusive relationships. There is no quality to my life. This is the next attempt at finding something that gives me a reason to fight. I love my husband with all my heart. I will stay for him, but when I finally have a good day, he wants me to go out with him, and I do.