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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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