Katie Simpson

Katie has been an MG snowflake since she was 14 years old; diagnosed during her freshman year of high school, she has had to learn to live with MG for longer than she hasn’t. In early December of 2003, her symptoms appeared abruptly during class and caused an embarrassing commotion among her classmates. Shortly after, she received her diagnosis and started treatment and was in remission by graduation in 2007.

Now, in her mid-late 30’s Katie has come a long way and continues to navigate daily challenges with myasthenia with the help of her treatment plan, the support of her loved ones, and the general attitude that she can do hard things. Over 20+ years her symptoms and disease have progressed from Ocular Myasthenia Gravis to Generalized Myasthenia Gravis, but she remains focused in not letting it define her or her ability to accomplish whatever goal she sets for herself.

By day you can find her snoozing, and by night you can find her in the hospital working full-time as a registered nurse to critically ill patients. In her spare time, you can find her being the Cool Auntie to her nieces and nephews, enjoying time at the dog park with her goodest boy, Fender. She can sometimes be found preparing delicious and occasionally nutritious meals for her husband and herself, tinkering with her sewing machine as an amateur sewist, or even at her local powerlifting gym. Katie began powerlifting in 2022, and even started competing in 2023. Her current PRs in competition are as follows: squat: 365lbs, bench: 175lbs, and deadlift: 400lbs-and there’s surely more where that came from! She finds great joy in defying the limitations of her disease, but she does so carefully and has gotten much better at listening to her body and resting when necessary.

Her life with MG even with successful, effective treatment is not without its challenges, but she’s found there’s definitely much to accomplish with creativity, patience, and determination. Her hope is to be a helpful health leader and show the uniqueness of this disease among its patient population, and perhaps bring further awareness to it.

Click here to read all of Katie's articles on Myasthenia-Gravis.com.