Do The Best You Can With What You Have! by Ariel Moreno
Hello everyone! My name is Ariel and I would love to share my story with you, I was born in August of 2001. My mother had no idea I was going to be born with Turner syndrome. She had no clue what it even was or what this would mean for my future. Shortly after I was born, she was told I had to be seen by a kidney and a heart specialist for my horseshoe kidney and bicuspid aortic valve.
Quickly, my mom realized that our lives would never be the same. My parents divorced when I was around 3 years old. This made things confusing for my siblings and I, but we pushed through. I was placed on growth hormone shots and after a while insurance stopped covering them and they were too expensive for my family, so I was forced to discontinue them. By this point, I was in elementary school and my mother had met my stepdad. We went from a family of 5 to a family of 10 really quick!
My school life was not easy once the other kids realized they were growing, and I was not. Bullying was not a foreign language to me. I dealt with it and by 4th grade, developed thick skin and learned to not let them get to me. I always tried to focus on my grades and to just do what I had to do. In middle school, I made 3 amazing friends that are still in my life today! I would love to say the bullying eventually stopped, but it did not.
During my senior year of high school, I developed alopecia areata and lost most of my hair. I went to a dermatologist, and they told me I was so psychologically stressed that my body attacked my hair. This sent me into a depression which I did not realize at the time. It was a rough time in my life but I still continued to smile and walk the school halls like everything was okay. I graduated high school with honors and was so glad I never had to go back to that school! I walked across the stage wearing a wig because I was so embarrassed with the pixie cut I was forced to have.
Fast forward to 2023. I decided I wanted to go into the medical field to not only learn more about my disorder but to help others who may be in the same predicament as me. I have always loved making people smile and laugh, even if they are sad. In 2024, I graduated as a medical assistant with honors and I was so proud of myself. I am now on my journey to becoming a nurse and hopefully I can continue to make people happy.
I have worked so hard - with the support of my parents - to get to where I am today. I definitely could not have done it without them and my friends. I like to think I am a great example of “do the best you can with what you have”. My grandmother once told me "God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers" and I have lived by that my whole life. I hope my story gives even just one person the hope to pursue the dream they've been putting off. I would love to meet and get to know more people with TS and hear their stories. Oh, I am a 23-year-old, 4 foot 5-inch girl who drives and has her own apartment. If I can do it, SO CAN YOU!
