Jenna Radke had dreamed about being a doctor when she was little, so she was shocked at the young age of 21 to find her body failing her. Jenna went on a trip to a destination wedding and was in so much joint pain that she could not see the local sights with her family. She tried to push through the pain, and at one point her brother ended up carrying her five blocks back to the car.
“Everything hurt. When I got home, I couldn’t hold my arms above my head to brush my hair. I moved in with my mom, who was my rock, and she took care of me.” Soon, her hair started falling out.
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“My plan was to apply to medical school, but everything was on hold until I could figure out what was going on.” Jenna found the Johns Hopkins Myositis Center whose doctors diagnosed her with dermatomyositis. “My friends were out clubbing, and I was discovering I have a lifetime disease.”
“TMA was a game changer for me,” Jenna said. “My support group has been amazing. It makes such a difference to be surrounded by people who really understand what I am going through.” Her fellow myositis warriors helped her mourn the loss of her ability to keep up with her friends. They also helped her figure out other ways to socialize with people, which reframed her abilities and gave her hope.
Three years later, Jenna is now one semester into medical school and loving it. She is a coleader of her TMA support group and treatment is improving her health. “This has been a really hard journey, but I’m so glad my friends from TMA are here to help me navigate the future.
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Jeep gou g Jenna. You are an inspiration to many.