Allysa Seely Opens Up About Health Challenges Past And Present

Keeping A Secret
As terrifying as that chapter of Seely’s story is, there is another part that has its own importance.

Health scares aren’t anything new to Seely. She has been dealing with major ones since 2010 when her first diagnosis was given.

But there have been more private battles that she kept from even her closest friends. Keeping quiet about other maladies comes from her competitive spirit. If she told her friends, then her ailments would become public and her rivals would know she had a weakness.

As a Paralympic gold medalist and winner of three of the past five world championships, her competitive armor would have dents.

Her story might be even more fantastic when you know what she hasn’t revealed.

“My first world championship win came two days after I was discharged from the hospital for two weeks,” Seely said. “And the day after I got discharged from the hospital for three weeks, I got on a plane to London and raced in London and the next weekend in France. And so I'm not unaccustomed to these challenges. I'm not unaccustomed to being in and out of the hospital. I'm not unaccustomed to having to deal with these health concerns every day. But I think this time, my biggest weapon, per se, is that I'm not doing it alone.”

Not anymore. Seely has vowed to be more transparent about her health situation and posts frequently on her Instagram account, but often only alluding to her situation, never really giving the dire details. But she feels now is the time to knock down that wall and tell more about what has been going on when she isn’t swimming, biking and running in competitions.

“I thought that if my competitors knew what I was going through, that they would see it as a weak point, and it would give them an advantage over me,” Seely said. “And I also just felt like it didn't fit. My story didn't fit with the story of an elite athlete. My body doesn't fit what we make out to be the body (of an elite athlete). I think I just needed to redefine the standards of what an elite athlete’s body is so that I could see myself as just that because I am an elite athlete. And this is my reality — it may not be everybody else's reality, but it is my reality. I have achieved some of my biggest dreams with this body and I want others to know that they can achieve their dreams, too.”

Like any world-class athlete, nutrition is key. But with Seely’s health issues and physical demands, nutrition has been a challenge. Typically, she was strong at the beginning of the season, but was worn down and had lost weight by the end.

Following multiple surgeries on her digestive tract, Seely had gotten all the way down to 72 pounds. She began working with a dietician in 2017 and also gave in to the realization that she could no longer take her food orally and needed to use tubes to bring nutrition into her body.

“I've never actually, I've never spoken about it,” Seely said of speaking up for the first time. “My teammates don't know. Nobody really knew. My closest friends didn't know. Because it was something that I just never was comfortable in talking about or telling people. I think when we see athletes, you see a picture-perfect body. Our bodies are our tool and my tool is broken. That was something that has been hard to come to terms with, I think.

“Then I also think that there's a really big stigma in the medical field and with the general public about people that have complex chronic illness and what we can do or what we should do. Many times, I have been told by doctors I am either too sick to be doing what I am or not as sick as my medical record would make me out to be. Because of this it was something that I never felt comfortable talking about with even my closest friends. But that long, bulleted list of diagnoses on my medical chart is my reality. Being fed by tubes and IVs, being in and out of the hospital is my reality and hiding it from the world became so heavy carrying it by myself all the time. I didn’t want to do it anymore. And I think there's something to be said for being able to tell our own stories and tell the world, ‘This is what I'm going through and despite it all this is what I've been able to achieve.’ I think other people going through similar things need to be able to see that their lifestyle, their lives are not defined by their diagnosis. Their life isn't defined by what a medical professional tells them. Their life is defined how they want to define it, if they're willing to fight for it.”

As she prepares to turn 32 and aiming for another Paralympic gold medal, Seely is thankful for the support she has received, especially this year as she gave in and became more open with those around her. It was really becoming more self-aware of her place in the world and how she could affect others.

“Some of my diagnoses are public, they are easy to find on the internet,” Seely said. “Others I've never talked about and I’ve never talked about how they affect me, my day-to-day life inside and outside of training and competing. But you know, other individuals would see them and they would message me and ask questions about how I have managed this or that, and I, and I realized that there needs to be somebody that is able to speak about their experiences, and able to share their story so others with similar struggles can use what I have done to hopefully help them live the life they want, maybe the life the doctors told them couldn’t have, the life they were too scared to try and fight for. 

“If they can see someone else has defied what the medical professionals have said, maybe they will believe they can do it, too. If they can see they go through the same battles I do and what I’ve accomplished, I hope that inspires them to fight for their dreams, too, whatever they may be and realize they too can accomplish them.”