LUCKEY – Jena Jacoby is back to being happy and healthy.
The Eastwood High School junior has a 4.2 grade-point average and ranks fifth in her class of 152. Her
schedule is dominated by honors classes and other challenging subjects.
She’s the defending Suburban Lakes League champion in the shot put and was a state qualifier in the
discus last season.
In addition, Jacob is active in five academic clubs.
But almost two years ago, in the summer of 2009, the slender and athletically-built 6-footer started
feeling dizzy and fatigued on a regular basis. She eventually had to give up volleyball, her favorite
sport, because of the toll it took on her body.
And in November 2009, after six months of trips to what was seemingly every type of doctor possible and
seemingly undergoing every possible exam and test, she was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic
Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).
POTS involves blood flow and can cause regularly fainting, even when a person stands up after sitting or
laying down.
"My blood just flows to all of my extremities, so I get dizzy really easily and my heart has to work
three times as fast just to get the blood up to my head," said Jacoby, who also was diagnosed with
diabetes in the seventh grade. "Most people who have it, faint consistently, but I haven’t had to
deal with that. I’ve been lucky. Most people who have it faint consistently, they can hardly get up from
laying down without fainting."
Jacoby keeps POTS under control with medication twice a day, and by watching her activity and drinking
plenty of water. She also sleeps about nine hours a night.
When Jacoby’s doctors couldn’t diagnose what was wrong, her parents, Shawn and Mary Jacoby, wouldn’t
accept that and continued to have daughter examined by additional doctors. Her mom is a nurse at Wood
County Hospital.
She was finally diagnosed by Dr. Blair Grubb, who works at the University of Toledo Medical Center. He’s
one of the country’s top experts on POTS.
"My mom kept pushing because she knew something was wrong and when I got in to see Dr. Grubb, he
knew right away what I had," Jacoby said. "He knew the symptoms and gave me a simple blood
test. I’m fine now. But I had CAT scans, MRIs, brain scans, equilibrium tests. I went to a neurologist,
an ENT (ear, nose and throat specialist) and they couldn’t figure it out. They were just going to it
leave it at my being depressed.
"It forced me to grow up a lot faster than most people my age because I’m responsible for my health
now. I used to be really outgoing, but I’m not as outgoing as I used to be because I had to
mature."
Jacoby competed in basketball and volleyball in middle school, but tore her Anterior Cruciate Ligament
during basketball practice the summer after her eighth grade year. She gave up basketball as a result
and was the manager of the junior varsity volleyball team as a freshman while she recovered from knee
surgery.
Jacoby played volleyball as a sophomore, but stopped approximately halfway through the season because she
was always fatigued. She hasn’t played since.
"It was a really hard experience because it was like six months where I had no idea what was wrong
with me," Jacoby said. "I was always tired. Volleyball was so physically demanding that I got
over not playing it really fast. I’d rather have my health than be miserable all of the time because I’m
draining my body so much."
But participating it track has allowed her to remain competitive. The 17-year-old also is a member of the
Key Club, National Honor Society, Student Council, Art Club and People, Inc., which runs the school
blood drive.
She’s taking honors classes in Spanish, English and pre-calculus. Her other classes are intermediate art,
anatomy/physiology and a biology lab. Her favorite classes are art and English. She enjoys writing and
has kept a journal since age 11.
Jacoby was an academic All-Ohio honoree in track last year.
"She wants to help other people, that’s a genuine part of her personality," Eastwood girls head
track coach Nikki Sabo said. "She’s always happy. She always has a smile on her face. She’s
encouraging of her teammates, her classmates.
"She’s just a lot of fun to be around. She’s such a positive person and a hard worker, you can’t
help but smile when you’re around her."
Jacoby plans on attending college and is planning to pursue a career in art of a medical field.