Built on a promise, Wilmington Island woman steps past sickness to pursue Miss Georgia crown

Caitlin Whalen, too weak to stand after hospitalization in March, now steps out on a 9-year-old promise to her late grandmother to pursue a national beauty crown.

“I said I was going to give it my all to my grandma in 2013 before she passed away,” Whalen wrote on her announcement to run for Miss USA. “Right here, today it becomes a reality.”

In the spring, Lupus symptoms sidelined the Wilmington Island woman yet again, but in July, a medical turnaround opened a long-shut door. Whalen, 25, is competing as Miss Wilmington Island’s first title holder in the Nov. Miss Georgia USA 2023 pageant for a shot at becoming Miss USA 2024.

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“It just gave me something to look forward to,” says Whalen, who advises finding a purpose to anyone in recovery. “I’ve got to have a reason to get myself out of bed.”

Whalen, who can now walk a mile a day, will participate in Saturday’s Lace up for Lupus Awareness, in Daffin Park. The DeLoach Lupus Foundation event begins at 9 a.m.

“Who better to help a lupus patient than a lupus patient?” asks DeLoach Lupus Foundation founder Salathiel DeLoach.

‘They saved my life’

Whalen was diagnosed with lupus at age 16 as an Islands High School sophomore. She completed school work from home, and returned to in-person classes her senior year, while leaning on teachers’ support. She was determined to graduate, and she did.

She fought lupus with a lifestyle of exercise and healthy eating for six years after her diagnosis.  She worked in Atlanta as a model for Tom James Co., and could run six miles. But symptoms returned about three years ago.

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She felt drained and awoke covered in a chickenpox-like rash that would disappear three days later. Other times she coughed up blood and her hair fell out in clumps. She ran 104 fevers consistently.

But people doubted she was sick. Her blood work showed problems with red and white blood cells, but her MRI and CAT scans were good. Doctors reasoned that since her organs worked, she couldn’t be too close to death.

But eventually, her kidneys shut down, her bladder failed and she was septic. “I looked like death,” she says.

In March, a team at Memorial Health finally narrowed down Whalen’s diagnosis through surgery: Class 5 Lupus nephritis with kidney failure.

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“They saved my life,” Whalen says, mentioning Dr. Rebecca Sentman and Dr. Dana Kumjian in nephrology.

She regained strength from a combination of nerve killers, muscle relaxers and the medicine CellCept that suppresses her immune system, but allows her kidneys to work. Whalen should be in remission in two years.

Modeling initiative

During physical therapy in July, Whalen decided that if she got better, she would try for a national crown like she promised her grandmother Nancy Mathews in 2013.

But time was running out.

The age limit for Miss USA is 28 and Whalen, now 25, needed to qualify for a local contest to be eligible to compete for Miss Georgia first. Each completion takes one year.

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There is no Miss Savannah pageant, although Whalen’s aunt, Angela Mathews McCurdy, was Miss Savannah in 1976. But there is also no Miss Wilmington Island pageant. Could Whalen represent her island hometown to compete in Miss Georgia?

She called Greenwood Productions, which produces Miss USA and Miss Teen USA state pageants, which was keen on the idea. They interviewed Whalen several times.

“Lo and behold, they crowned and sashed me,” Whalen says.

Seven months ago, Whalen’s uncle had to carry her upstairs to bed. Now, she’ll volunteer around the Wilmington and Whitemarsh Island communities at bingo nights, library readings, Halloween events and Saturday’s walk.

A mental makeover

At the walk for lupus awareness Saturday, the DeLoach Lupus Foundation’s namesake wants other lupus sufferers and their families to know they’re not alone.

“My journey was difficult,” DeLoach says. “I just want to help.”

In 2001, DeLoach had just graduated high school and was preparing for college when symptoms hit her: Feet too swollen to walk, some kidney failure and fatigue, whole body rashes and hair loss.

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Like Whalen, DeLoach once needed family members to carry her.

She sometimes felt ugly with the lupus “butterfly rash” over her face. Or DeLoach canceled outings with friends because of fatigue, but sensed some doubted her excuses. Like Whelan, she’d offer to take a picture of symptoms for proof.

DeLoach originally thought the diagnosis was a death sentence. It isn’t.  She’s here 21 years later with advice. Think of the diagnosis as a makeover. You can be very timid, yet emerge stronger: “Lupus tried to take me out, but I’m going to live my life like a warrior.”

DeLoach hopes her foundation helps fill needs that existed when she was sick, and attract doctors to Savannah to help locals who may drive to Atlanta or the Carolinas for specialized care.

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DeLoach recently talked to someone with lupus whose 30-day medication cost $1,000.

Or Whalen, for instance, will likely get health insurance next month, but her out-of-pocket medical expenses topped $5,000 in about 30 days. She couldn’t afford living expenses while symptoms made work unrealistic. Further, Whalen’s mother quit her job to care for Whalen, another loss of income.

‘Making the rest of these years count’

Whalen takes classes at Savannah Technical College. She’ll earn an associate’s degree in logistics and supply chain management for work at the port.

Pursuing a pageant title, however, gives Whalen a chance at scholarships to pursue a doctorate in physics. She’ll also call for more lupus research and understanding about the illness others hesitate to talk about.

Holistic medications can fail some people, and every lupus patient suffers different variations of symptoms, she says.

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Her great grandmother Louise Caroline Mathews, of the former L.C. Mathews Seafood, also had lupus, and spent two weeks at Duke University in the 1960s for lupus research. Duke University sent Whalen the research at Whalen’s request.

“It was just incredible to be able to read it,” she says.

Now her story unfolds one mile at a time.

“I slept for almost three years,” Whalen says. “Cheers to making the rest of these years count.”

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Miss Georgia 2023: Caitlin Whalen pursues title for lupus research