University of Minnesota Athletics
Five Minutes with Taylor Williamson
1/18/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS -- Gophers junior Taylor Williamson caught up with the voice of Gopher Women's Hockey Dan Hamann before Minnesota's game against Vermont last Saturday. Williamson discusses what it was like to return to the Gophers' lineup after missing 23 games and her battle with a neuromuscular autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis.
Listen to Williamson's complete interview.
Dan Hamann: Welcome back to Gopher women's hockey. Today, I am joined by a very special guest, making her first start in a long time, way too long, Taylor Williamson. Welcome back to, I don't know how you would describe this, real life? You've been missing for a long time, what are your thoughts and feelings as you're suiting up right now?
Taylor Williamson: I already have butterflies. I can't even say how blessed I am to put the 'M' back on again and play with my teammates, who have all been by me through one of the toughest things I have ever faced in my life. I am just so excited. I have no words for it.
DH: Many people might have known that you haven't been playing this year but many might not know why. Describe what was going on at the end of last year, some of the symptoms you were having.
TW: Yeah, so this all started around the end of last April when I started to have difficulty talking. I describe it to people as it feeling like you have a big spoonful of peanut butter in your mouth while you're trying to talk. So, I ended up having emergency brain surgery and I recovered from that but then I started to get these symptoms back again. So then, as some people might have noticed, I was able to suit up during the exhibition game and then through the first period against Merrimack before I realized that something wasn't right. It was after that that I was diagnosed with a neuromuscular autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis, and I'm sure not a lot of people are familiar with that. It's a twenty in a million chance that people have this, so it's very unknown and it's been a battle ever since. But with my family, who are a great support system, and all my teammates, we have gotten back here and I can't tell you how blessed I am. It's all because of God and Jesus and I can't thank them enough.
DH: When you first came down with those symptoms and the doctor' gave you the diagnosis, did they give you a prognosis about ever playing hockey again? Was that ever part of the conversation?
TW: Yeah, to be honest with you, no one thought I would be here. A lot of people thought it would be the last time I would wear the Maroon & Gold, and I'm getting chills right now thinking about it because I said that that wasn't going to be the end and that I was going to throw the jersey on again. It's been a battle. I had days where I could barely lift my hands above my head just from how weak my muscles would get from the disease, but with medication and amazing people who have been helping me, it's so cool to be back here, to have the ability to be.
DH: What's the prognosis going forward? Is this a disease that you will have the rest of your life and is it going to be treatable with medication? Or is there something else that can be used to treat it in the future?
TW: As of right now, there is no cure for myasthenia gravis. So, I will have this for the rest of my life. It is treatable by medication, but I think that if we can get the word out, we might find a way to get a cure for this thing.
DH: Some people might not know, so, you talked about the speech issue, what other symptoms go along with this?
TW: There are five main symptoms, speech is one of the main ones for me. You also can get double vision, weak limbs, so weak arms and legs, a droopy eye, and muscle weakness in your face, so, those are the main ones with myasthenia gravis, and it varies which one is more dramatic. For me personally, it's the speech and then my limbs, my arms and legs.
DH: For you, what was the most frustrating thing about coming back?
TW: You know, to be honest, I tried not to really think about it. I tried to stay super positive because I knew that it happened for a reason. I knew I had to battle through this just like I would battle through any other injury. It was frustrating at times to not know what the day was going to hold for me because every day was different. Waking up, I didn't know how good of a day or how bad of a day it was going to be. So, taking it day by day and staying positive were my main things to focus on.
DH: You bring up your faith quite a bit, I'm sure that must have been comforting for you. How much did that play a part in your recovery and staying positive? That must be devastating for most people when they hear that news, but, you know, whenever I was around you, I didn't get the impression that this was going to be something that would hold you back. You just kept moving forward and you always had a smile on your face, and for me, I don't know if I could have been in the same if I were in your shoes.
TW: I think without my faith, and I was blessed to get a stronger connection through it all, but just having the Holy Spirit in me and knowing that this was happening for a reason. Coach Bethany Brausen actually put up in my locker, "God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers." I think that it was there, it happened for a reason. I'm going to grow and I'm going to learn from this but I just have to be patient and wait for those answers to come. I'm on the right path and wherever it's going to take me, I'm just going to keep going with it.
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