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Kaylee Christie — Creating New, Better Dreams After a Diagnosis
09/24/2021
Kaylee Christie — Creating New, Better Dreams After a Diagnosis
Kaylee Christie still has a note saved on her iPhone from January 31, 2019 that simply says: “Why can’t I talk? When will I be able to talk again?” During her senior year of high school, now-19-year-old Kaylee was diagnosed with Hemiplegic migraines, a variant of migraines that produces stroke-like symptoms. She was at school early in the morning practicing with her volleyball teammates when the first episode struck; Kaylee’s dream was to become a Division 1 volleyball player, and she’d fit in pre-school workouts each morning after waking at 5:30 a.m. to finish her AP homework. The recovery process, as she remembers it, was slow and painful. “I had to learn how to read, write, talk and walk all over again,” she says. “It was a battle every single day, just learning how to be myself again. And without the mobility and physicality to function as a regular person, I wasn’t able to play volleyball.” Kaylee wasn’t prepared to give up on her dream, though — not even close. Despite suffering from chronic Hemiplegic migraines and never knowing when the next attack would hit, she relentlessly pursued and achieved her goal, receiving a full scholarship to Fairfield University as a member of its D1 volleyball team. But the episodes continued. And then COVID hit. After being sent home for virtually classes alongside the rest of her classmates, Kaylee received a phone call from her volleyball coach: she was being medically disqualified from the team. It was a punch to the gut. And yet, thanks to some spot-on words of wisdom from her mother, Kaylee overcame the setback and went on to identify a new purpose, continuing her education at Fairfield. On this episode of the Still Winning podcast, Kaylee tells Mikala what it was like to receive her diagnosis, have certain dreams taken away from her, and find the perseverance to create even better ones. What You’ll Learn: How Kaylee developed mental toughness, despite experiencing Hemiplegic migraine episodes every 2-4 weeks as a college freshman in brand new surroundings How she’s reshaped her dreams while still keeping her love of volleyball alive — and how she found the courage to do that The way Kaylee plans to change the world through data analytics (and specifically change the world for African American women and African American mothers) And much more! Favorite Quote: “I think the biggest thing is that I never rethought my decisions. I was never like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do this anymore. And that’s what kept me going. I never doubted.” — Kaylee Christie How to Get Involved: Connect with Kaylee: Connect with Mikala:
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