Who Am I?
That’s a great question... I can easily tell you what I’m not! I’m not a fitness expert. I’m not a nutritionist. I'm not a doctor. I’m a “simple” girl trying to live a healthy and productive life. I’m a mother of an active 6 year old that wants to play with her child. I’m a giver. I’m a survivor with Myasthenia Gravis.
Education
In 1998, I left my home and went to college just a mere 45 minutes away from home. I attended Sonoma State University and majored in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting. In my junior year, I started experiencing some health issues and took a leave from school. I’ll discuss that a little later. I returned to school in 2005 and graduated in 2007 with my undergraduate degree. In 2011, I earned my Certified Public Accountants (CPA) license. In 2016, I decided to return to school and in 2018, I graduated with my Master of Business Administration (MBA). As time permits, I also teach financial literacy to teens and young adults.
Image captured by Nikki Anderson
My health
As I mentioned before, in my junior year of college, I started experiencing some strange things with my body. I was 21 years old and I was losing the strength in my body. In March 2002, I was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis (MG). MG is an autoimmune disease where there’s a communication breakdown between the nerves and muscles. On the outside, it appears to be muscle weakness. In fact, the name is Latin and Greek in origin and means grave muscles. There’s no cure for MG but there are various forms of treatment. It’s quite rare and the US sees roughly 14 cases per 100,000 people per year. This number is up significantly from when I was diagnosed almost 18 years ago.
So, when I say muscle weakness, I mean exactly that. In the next section, I want you to use your imagination and play out a few scenes in your mind. Are you ready? Huh? Are you sure? Well, let’s GO!
Scenario 1: You wake up and it’s a beautiful spring morning. The sun is shining and the birds are chirping. You lie awake in bed, blessed to be alive. Then you go to lift your head so you can grab your phone and check the time. Oh but wait, you can’t quite lift your head. You think to yourself, damn this sucks, the morning is supposed to be the best time of the day for me. I’m typically my strongest in the morning. Well, let’s try again. Lift your head! Ugh, not quite. Let’s try one more time. Ohhh the struggle is real! Ugh! Now, yell out… Momma, can you come help me sit up?
Well that was a daily routine for me. I tried with everything in me to do simple tasks like lift my head and simply could not. I just didn’t have the strength to do it. My momma and my family would help me with all of my basic needs.
Scenario 2: You sit up in bed because you need to use the restroom. Your legs don’t feel 100% so you opt not to chance falling down because well… it sucks to fall down. You crawl to the floor and scoot backwards through the house. You scoot backwards up the hallway to the bathroom, then use the little strength you have left in your arms to grab the side of the bathtub, pull yourself up and sit on the toilet. Heeeyyyyy!!! You made it without falling. You want to do a happy dance but you know damn well you’ll end up on the ground for sure then.
Scooting was how I got around the house. It was the fastest and easiest way for me to move around. Thankfully, we lived in a single story home so I was able to go to my room, the bathroom and hang in the living room.
Scenario 3: Okay you’re feeling pretty good today. Your legs and arms feel strong. You decide to go visit your friend Leah and pick up paperwork from your job at the same time. Win-win. You get to the store, get out the car safely and head in to see Leah. You’ve been off work for a while so you’re excited to see your girl! She’s happy to see you as well. “Hey! How’s everything going? How are you feeling today?” says Leah. “I’m good. Happy to bancknjcnnbjhd.” you say.
No, that’s not a typo! I start slurring because I don’t have the strength in my tongue to move it and actually say a word. During this time, I couldn’t say more than 3-5 words before I started slurring and you could no longer understand what I was saying.
This was/is my life. Living with Myasthenia Gravis isn’t easy but you can overcome it. I did! To be clear, I am not cured of MG. I take medication daily to be able to function like everyone else. As you can imagine, living with MG comes with a fear that you simply can’t imagine. You ask yourself questions daily…
Will I be able to walk and talk today?
Will I have double vision when driving to work?
Will I be able to put the grocery bags in the car?
Will I be able to chew my food?
Will I fall and end up in the bush by the front door again?
When will I be able to live freely again?
When will I be able to live alone again?
These are all situations I’ve been in. These are not random, they are real! I’ve undergone several treatments to get strong and stay strong. I had a thymectomy (removal of the thymus gland) in 2003. I’ve had 7 IVIG treatments and have tried numerous medications to control the MG. I remember so many moments discussing my condition with my doctor. The one I remember so well is him looking me in the eye and saying you can’t exercise. If you do, you can walk on a treadmill but you can’t walk on an incline.
Well, I guess we’ll see about that!
~Tasha
Feel free to comment and ask any questions that you may have.