‘I’M NO ONE’S TYPE’

the tricky world of dating and intimacy,

Kate Farr Reporter

Ball State University second-year James Nichols experienced his first heartbreak during his first year of college.

The social work major said he knew it wasn’t a flaw in his character or his scruffy beard. Following weeks of messaging back and forth with someone he’d met, Nichols watched as the once-consistent texts trickled out, leaving him feeling as though his condition is what ultimately scared them off after an in-person date. When the person he went out with began to ignore him after their first time meeting, Nichols said, he knew their avoidance was because of his wheelchair.

“It feels as though I’m no one’s type,” the native of New Market, Indiana, said. “I often find that individuals can’t see past the wheelchair … They’re only able to see my disability.”

National Florida bill plans to ban talk of periods in elementary schools

Legislation, sponsored by Rep. Stan McClain (R- Ocala), in the Florida Statehouse would ban discussion of menstrual cycles and other human sexuality topics in grades under sixth grade. The bill restricts public school education on human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases and related topics for grades 6 to 12. When asked if the bill would apply to a girl who got her period before 6th grade, McClain said, “It would.”

The bill passed through the House Education Quality Subcommittee 13-5 March 15.

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Illnesses

Nichols has congenital fiber-type disproportion, which requires him to endure countless treatments for crippling muscle myopathy causing stiffness, spasms, cramps and fatigue in his skeletal muscles. Diagnosed with the rare genetic disease shortly after birth, Nichols’ life has had an added layer of difficulty in many aspects, including his navigation of the world of online and in-person dating.

Living with a visible disability means the people he encounters every day are aware of his physical differences, but in his online dating presence, Nichols tries not to lead with his condition. He wants the people he meets to get to know him before jumping to conclusions, he said.

After reaching a certain level of “comfort” with matches, Nichols has disclosed his health information. Each time, it resulted in ghosting or a lack of response.

Amid rising concerns of TikTok’s security March 21, the company updated rules and standards for its content as TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew warned of a possible ban in the United States. Chew is scheduled to appear before U.S congressional lawmakers March 23 about the app’s privacy and security.

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The Federal Reserve extended its fight against inflation March 22 by raising the key rate by .25 despite concerns of higher borrowing rates worsening the banking system. The Fed said the financial upheaval, stemming from the collapse of two major banks, is “likely to result in tighter credit conditions” and “weigh on economic activity, hiring and inflation.”

Kyle Smedley News Editor

In May 2021, things were looking up for Justin Gillespie. He was about to attend Muncie Central High School prom for the first time, his 18th birthday was days away and he was less than a month away from graduating high school.

Gillespie remembered going to lunch at his favorite restaurant, Chick-fil-A, just a few days before prom and ordering chicken nuggets.

After taking the first bite, he threw up instantly. Gillespie thought this was strange, especially because he hadn’t felt sick before eating and didn’t feel sick after vomiting.

His mother, Garnisha Mason, wanted to take him to the hospital right away. She said her “mama bear” instincts kicked in. Gillespie assured her he would be okay, and they returned home.

Shortly thereafter, he began to notice he was gaining an abnormal amount of weight, something he said felt like a 50-pound weight being dropped on his stomach. But May 20, 2021, is when everything changed.

“I was coming from the bathroom, and I got so tired I couldn’t even make it to my room. I just dropped on the couch,” Gillespie said.

Gillespie passed out for three minutes. Mason and a cousin of Gillespie’s visiting from Texas wanted to take him to the hospital right away, but he insisted he just wanted to go to his bed and get some sleep. were swollen all the way up to my kneecaps,” Gillespie said. “I chose to go to the hospital immediately, and when I got there, I was there for about three plus hours, [before] they [told me] I had nephrotic syndrome, and my kidneys had failed 75 percent.” fewer than five in 100,000 children worldwide develop nephrotic syndrome each year. Nephrotic syndrome is a kidney disorder that causes your body to pass too much protein in your urine, according to the Mayo Clinic. Kidney failure can be life threatening, depending on the severity, the person’s age and health and how soon it is spotted. world when she said it,” Gary said. “I went through colon cancer, I had colon surgery, and I think this hurt me more than when I had that cancer because he was just 18 years old, and I was 60 years old. I sleep immediately.”

Garnisha’s father, has been an integral piece of Gillespie’s life since he was born. Tears streamed down Gary’s face multiple times when talking about his grandson’s battle with kidney failure. Not only does he care about his grandson, but he knows what intense medical care is like first hand, being a cancer survivor.

Gary takes Gillespie to most dialysis appointments and goes to every doctor’s appointment Gillespie has. When Gillespie was a child, Gary made him breakfast and took him to school every day. He called Gillespie his “right hand man.”

One day, Gillespie’s post-dialysis symptoms were much worse than being tired. Shortly after he got into Gary’s car to leave, Gillespie fell into a seizure. Gary said he was scared to death, yet he knew what to do because his oldest son had epilepsy. Gillespie was again rushed to the hospital where doctors ran tests on his brain to see if he was epileptic; however, they came back negative.

“After that, I said, ‘There’s nothing that’s gonna keep him down.’ He’s a very strong kid,” Gary said. “I have to say, he gets it from both his mother and his father because he cares a lot about his father, and he cares a lot about his mother, and they he wants to blow through this for them.”

Garnisha and Robert Gillespie III, Justin’s father, are separated, yet Justin remains close with each of them. Like Gary, Robert knows all about medical issues.

Robert was involved in a single-car accident prior to Justin’s birth when he slid off the road on an icy night into a transformer. From this, he developed motor dexterity disorder, something he struggles with to this day, using a cane to make things easier on his body.

“My mother used to say, ‘You feel horrible when your children go through [tough situations] because you don’t want your children hurt,’” Robert said. “[When Justin was diagnosed with kidney failure], I understood what she meant because that’s a horrible feeling. If I could give him my kidney, I’d do it, but I can’t.”

According to The Kidney Transplant Foundation, the wait for a kidney transplant can be as short as insurance.

Garnisha said this makes the kidney transplant process frustrating. She said she initially asked the doctor why she couldn’t give her kidney to Justin, and the doctor explained giving a 19-year old a 45year old kidney wouldn’t make sense.

Justin, of course, shares the same frustration.

“I think the hard thing is there’s been certain situations where I’ve had people sign up to try to donate a kidney, and that didn’t work out for whatever reason,” Justin said. “You get caught up sometimes with those types of situations [and] the false hope of like, ‘It might be time.’ Then it didn’t work, so then you got to go back to trying to make sure you don’t fall back into sadness.”

Justin’s sister-in-law has had a kidney transplant in the past, something Robert said is encouraging as the family continues to hold out hope.

“They told him in January that things should start happening fast after that,” Robert said. “Now it’s March, and it’s not as fast as we thought it would be, but by the grace of God, he’s okay. He seems to be okay.”

Justin’s hospitalization with pneumonia the day after graduation yielded a result potentially just as grim as kidney failure. The family was told Justin had heart failure, halting his process of getting a kidney transplant because he needed a heart transplant first.

Then, a little over a month ago, another “miracle” came.

“We went back for an appointment after we finally got [his blood pressure] to where it needed to be and took another [test] of his heart, [and] those results came back, and it was kind of like a miracle blessing,” Garnisha said. “His heart healed on its own.”

As Justin is back on the waitlist for a kidney transplant, the family is attempting to raise $40,000 in support through in-person and online fundraising. This can be found via the JustinStrong campaign at cota.org.

Justin will turn 20 in a little over two months, and he’s approaching two years dealing with kidney failure. Perhaps the biggest “miracle” of all has been his ability to stay positive throughout the process.

But it didn’t start that way.

“When it all first happened, everyone was very worried about me because it’s like I processed it and I understood what was happening, [but] I just wasn’t showing it. There weren’t any tears,” Justin said. “There wasn’t anything really. It was just kind of shock.”

It wasn’t until a week after the initial hospital visit when he finally broke down. Garnisha remembered Justin offered to take out the trash, and when she said she would take care of it for him, he snapped.

“I was screaming and talking about my life being over and stuff like that, and that was how it was really feeling,” Justin said.

He felt his mother didn’t think he was physically capable after the diagnosis, and when Garnisha saw the outburst, all she did was hug him. She and Gary set him up with counseling immediately after, a resource he has continued to utilize since.

Justin outlined a list of physical changes he’s had to go through, such as being injected with a needle three times a week, having a chip put in his arm for dialysis, having back surgery and having a catheter put in his chest when he first started dialysis.

4See HOPE, 14

32oz Gillespie can only drink 32 of the recommended 124 ounces of liquid per day.

Source: mayoclinic.org MEGHAN HOLT, DN DESIGN