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HALEY LISENBA: Growing up,
I was very active.
Just a complete normal kid
growing up, normal teenager.
I did competitive cheerleading
starting in like third grade.
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The summer before my senior year
of high school, I-- right
before I went to cheerleading
camp, I just became very, very
tired.
I felt fatigued.
My face was really puffy.
TONYA LISENBA: We took her
to the doctor.
He thought maybe it was mono
or something like that.
But as the summer progressed,
her symptoms got worse.
HALEY LISENBA: I just started
having this stiffness
that I've never felt before.
I couldn't do the skills that I
was always able to do.
It hurt me to do the skills
that I could do when I was
in third grade.
I couldn't do those at 18 years
old.
TONYA LISENBA: I would literally
sleep with her every night
because she had a fever.
Every night.
HALEY LISENBA: I missed, like,
73 days of school that year--
of my senior year.
I didn't know what was
happening.
I felt absolutely terrible.
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I was mad.
I didn't know what was happening
because the doctors couldn't
tell me what I had
or how we could fix it.
I felt like my future was gone
because all I wanted
was to be a college cheerleader.
And I knew that I couldn't do
that anymore.
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TONYA LISENBA: Every specialist
knew there's something wrong.
But they couldn't just quite
come up
with a definitive diagnosis.
It was almost a relief
to finally come up
with a diagnosis.
Now, we have a plan.
You know she can begin to go
back to more normal life.
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HALEY LISENBA: Once I was
diagnosed, I started feeling
pretty normal again
after my medication
and everything.
So for about four months,
everything was back to normal.
You know, my body felt better.
And then, all of a sudden,
I woke up to go take
my final exams
for my senior year,
and I couldn't hear out
of my left ear.
And it turns out that I had lost
complete hearing in my ear.
And they could not reverse it.
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I didn't care anymore.
I just went to food for comfort.
That's all I wanted to do
was just stay in my bed and eat.
I let my grades go.
I didn't care about that
anymore.
I just drank and ate terribly
to make myself feel better.
My junior year of college, one
of my best friends
took me to the gym with her.
You know, I just went for fun.
I was, like, yeah,
I'll give this a try.
Why not?
I went and I just got hooked.
I was like, wow.
Like, I feel really good
after this.
My joints weren't as stiff.
I woke up.
I felt like a better person.
And from that moment on, like, I
wanted to go every single day.
And I started watching
like YouTube videos
on competitors.
I was like, this is awesome.
But I don't think I'll ever
be able to do this.
There's no way, not with RA.
Regardless, I reached out
to a coach.
Four months later, I was
on stage.
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When I'm in the gym, I kind of
forget that I even have RA.
I just feel like I'm, you know,
a normal person working out.
And I can feel
like a normal active person
again.
TONYA LISENBA: I've never
experienced something like that
before where someone had
the motivation and the mindset
that they were going to do
whatever it takes to pursue
their dream.
And she just amazes me
every day.
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I know she doesn't feel good
most days.
But I think that Haley shows
that you can pursue your dreams
and you cannot let it limit
yourself.
HALEY LISENBA: No matter what,
you know, what you have going on
in your life,
like, you can do things that you
don't think you're capable of.
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