Life for 27-year-old Medical Bio Science graduate, Tate Nova Scanlon, has never been easy. As originally reported by The Lincolnite, Tate has been battling aggressive symptoms caused by adrenal insufficiency, also known as Addison’s disease, for too long. Some of those include vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, muscle weakness and even depression.
Since 2015, Tate life shifted dramatically as these symptoms took over, making it difficult for her to complete a full work day. She quickly started to seek out medical attention, yet it became difficult since she had a plethora of other health problems that caused doctors to be unsure of her diagnosis.
Living with the disease was exhausting. Tate was constantly waking up in the middle of the night anywhere from midnight to 3 am, unable to fall back to sleep. This then led to extreme exhaustion in the middle of the day. She also experienced weakness and nausea which led to her actually getting sick and her legs and stomach painfully hurting.
When searching for answers, she took to social media to discuss her symptoms and sure enough, a friend had commented suggesting the possibility of Addison’s disease. This illness affects the adrenal glands, causing them to not produce a sufficient amount of steroid hormones. Only about 1-5 people out of a million individuals are diagnosed with the disease.
Tate made sure to mention that she doesn’t want anyone battling this disease to do it alone. She hopes to raise awareness of the disease so that better, faster, and more efficient medical help can happen for patients. Additionally, patients need better availability for prescribed injections, which are an essential part of treatment.
