Aug 12, 2021
Tatiana Maria Corbitt is a writer, artist and advocate. Tatiana is also a person with Type 1 Narcolepsy.
In this episode, Tatiana and Claire discuss how the onset of her symptoms occurred after having the flu, while in the first year of college. She was diagnosed in 2017 while studying Applied Biological Studies. Since she experienced such a drastic shift while in the midst of her college career, Tatiana had challenges navigating her studies, managing her symptoms, receiving appropriate accommodations and maintaining her mental health.
Initially, Tatiana’s family was supportive throughout her diagnosis process, but coming to terms that there wasn’t a cure for narcolepsy has caused a strain within the familial relationships. Their hope for her to become a doctor was thwarted when Tatiana couldn’t find a university with the appropriate disability resource office available that would advocate for her in her studies.
Tatiana currently writes for Health Union about living with narcolepsy. Tatiana shares with Claire her current medication and the value of having a service dog. Her service dog, Kida, assists her in so many different facets which helps Tatiana feel safe while managing symptoms.
Because Tatiana’s narcolepsy caused such a drastic change in her quality of life, she has had to navigate changes in friendship and familial relationships. Thankfully, she has found community in the Wake Up Narcolepsy Online Support Groups. She recently became a facilitator for a WUN Support Group - LGBTQIA Support Group.
You can follow Tatiana on @saltytatertats on Instagram. Her art Instagram is @studioslumber. You can check out her writings about living with narcolepsy here.
Tatiana says, “I recommend the Wake Up Narcolepsy Narcolepsy LGBTQIA+ Support Group that I lead on Fridays. They also have other support groups for people with Narcolepsy that I’ve participated in and highly recommend, especially for people that are newly diagnosed or who don’t have support systems at home.”
You can follow Wake Up Narcolepsy at @narcolepsy_360 on Instagram, @wakeupnarcolepsy on Instagram and Facebook and @wakenarcolepsy on Twitter. Let us know your thoughts about this episode by using the hashtag #narcolepsy360 and please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.