Keeping it Together: Her bladder stopped working. Her world changed.

Tricia VanderHaar needed to see Taylor Swift. She'd seen her before, yes, but this was the tour. The "Eras" tour – a concept VanderHaar, 35, was far too familiar with. Eras defined her life: before, during and after chronic illness flare-ups.

Hi, I'm David Oliver, one of Paste BN's wellness reporters. This week, I dug into what happens when a part of your body fails you – and leaves you grieving.

VanderHaar was born with an underdeveloped kidney and has faced kidney infections and urinary tract infections since childhood. But on Nov. 7, 2012, doctors removed a tumor on her bladder and diagnosed her with interstitial cystitis, or inflammation of the bladder wall. Eventually her bladder stopped functioning altogether.

"I could no longer feel the urge to pee," she says, which led to the return of her chronic kidney infections.

She started grieving her health. "Having that taken away from me, having the ability to feel and be myself because I was homebound or because I couldn't go to concerts or because I couldn't go out with friends and (do) the things that made me me, and then losing them, was really hard," she says.

To read more, click here, and check out our other stories from the week below. Hope you are having a gentle start to your holiday season.