Emily's Story
I was a 14-year-old girl living a normal life when I started to show signs of an illness. I started to pass out at school. I had reoccurring chest and stomach pain, and numbness in my arms and legs. These things are what caused the biggest change in my life. I was seen by specialist after specialist from Dothan, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia and was diagnosed with numerous things such as dysautonomia, POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), EOS (Eosinophilic Esophagitis), reflux, prolonged QT wave, gastroparesis, iron deficiency anemia, mitochondrial disease and the newest of these, Porphyria (AIP). The gigantic “Monster” of this all was unidentified for a while. Porphyria A.K.A. the “Monster” has been controlling my life for the last three years. I have had too many hospital visits to count, had several procedures, surgeries, treatments, blood transfusions, and because of this I ended up doing homeschool. It’s like I’m fighting my own body every day and I don’t know what to ever expect, but what I do know is that I am getting stronger each day and Porphyria has nothing on me.
Fun Facts
When Emily grows up, she wants to be a pediatrics nurse or a child life specialist. Her favorite thing to do is take pictures, but if she could learn anything new, she would learn how to play the guitar. If she were a superhero, her name would be Miss Warrior, and her superpower would be to cure disease so no child would ever have to be sick. If Emily could spend the day with anyone, it would be Sammie Coates. War Eagle to that!