When I was 16, I participated in the Mindful Awareness and Resilience for Adolescents (MARS-A) program at BC Children’s Hospital with Dr. Dzung Vo to learn to cope with my chronic pain. I had a lot of pain and other symptoms due to my complex chronic illness, and despite receiving treatment, nothing took my pain away completely. I initially hoped that the MARS-A program would offer me a “quick fix” for my pain, but instead I learned the even more valuable skill of learning to live with the discomfort and finding peace with it. I learned that the more you resist pain and wish that it would just go away, the more you suffer as a result. Through the program, we learned and practiced many mindfulness strategies, including mindful walking, body scans, and mindful eating. With these techniques, I learned to simply notice discomfort, accept it, and co-exist with it.

Instead of resisting pain, I have accepted it as a part of my life and developed tools to cope with it.

These skills have benefitted me time and time again since learning them. I have used mindfulness to survive adversity, trauma and grief, and to persevere through challenges in pursuit of my goals. Despite being chronically ill, I learned to cope with my illness and regain function. My experience being chronically ill and working towards recovery ignited my passion for medicine, and I developed the goal of becoming a doctor to help other people facing similar challenges. I am now 23 and in medical school at UBC, with the hopes of caring for other people like me living with chronic illnesses.

I genuinely would not be where I am without the mindfulness tools that I learned from Dr. Vo. I am so excited for this next journey of my life, and I know that staying mindful will help me face the challenges that lie ahead. 

I hope that other youth take the opportunity to participate in the MARS-A program; you will learn skills that will help you for the rest of your life!