‘Everybody encouraged me to drop out’: Omaha woman perseveres through rare illness, getting her degree

By Samantha Pastorino

Click here for updates on this story

    OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — When an Omaha woman was diagnosed with a rare illness as a teenager, it affected not only her health but also her high school dreams

When KETV spoke with Keely Pedersen, she appeared as a normal 21-year-old.

But she lives with a rare disease that can change her appearance daily.

“You wake up with a different face or body every day,” Keely said.

When Keely was 11, she started experiencing symptoms that she knew were out of the ordinary.

Her symptoms appeared at the same time as puberty, leaving doctors to believe that was the cause.

“They thought it was bad menstrual pain. Then they thought it was endometriosis or ovarian cysts,” Keely said.

For four years, Keely lived undiagnosed.

She experienced symptoms like painful internal swelling, and external swelling of her hands, abdomen, and face.

When she was finally diagnosed, doctors said it’s hereditary angioedema type three, estrogen-dependent and dominant.

“I know, it’s a mouthful,” Keely said.

Doctors say HAE is extremely rare. The disease impacted everything in Keely’s life.

“You wake up two hours early because you know that you’re not going to get out of bed yet. Now, you move much slower. You don’t get to do that as many things as you wanted to,” Keely said.

Her hospital visits were frequent, her mom says there was even a designated ‘Keely’ room.

She had multiple painful swells every day — because of this, she couldn’t keep a normal high-schooler course schedule.

“Almost everybody extended in my life, even teachers, encouraged me to just drop out and just go get a GED,” Keely said.

But over and over again, Keely said no to that idea.

She studied to get her diploma through Omaha Public Schools’ Virtual School.

All while working with doctors to find a treatment program that would ease her symptoms with this lifelong disease.

“If you really want something the way that she wanted it, I mean, she just would not give up. She was tireless,” Keely’s mom, Sharvonna Ballard, said.

Keely walked across the stage last week, ironically on National HAE Day.

She’s starting her career journey with more than just that diploma.

“I’m a CNA, I did that while going to high school, during nights. I’m also a doula, a full-spectrum doula,” Keely said.

As for what’s next, Keely said she can’t wait to launch herself into her work and find her niche.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.