It’s been quite the year for Leah Messer, huh?
We’ve learned an awful lot about her, and not all of it has been good.
Honestly, most of it has been downright horrific.
See, earlier this year was when Leah released her book, Hope, Grace & Faith, and in that book, she shared a whole lot of things that we didn’t know.
She revealed some seriously sketchy things her mother had done when she was a child, and she told some stories about how violent she used to be in school.
She also really opened up about her drug use in a major way.
As she explained it, she had some real problems giving birth to her youngest daughter, Addie, and was prescribed some pain medication.
And when the pain didn’t get better, she was prescribed more painkillers, along with some meds for anxiety.
Things got out of control, and she later began obtaining those pills illegally.
We saw a bit of how her addiction affected her on Teen Mom 2 — remember that season where she would nod off, the one where she ended up going to inpatient treatment for "anxiety and depression"?
Yeah, now we know what was really going on.
Thankfully she was able to overcome that problem, and sharing all the dark details about it this year has really seemed to have lifted a weight off her shoulders.
So much that she’s been sharing pretty much everything these days!
In this new interview with In Touch, Leah is talking about her daughter, Ali, and how she’s been doing lately.
She begins her update by saying that Ali, who suffers from a rare form of muscular dystrophy, is "the strongest and most determined child" she’s ever known.
"And I have three very strong-willed, three very strong, powerful women that will build empired and do amazing things," she clarifies, referring to her other two daughters.
"But that girl, Ali, her determination, it’s so inspiring."
Although Ali’s disease is progressive and she has been getting weaker over the years, Leah says that it hasn’t held her back.
In fact, she "doesn’t give up until she figures it out."
"And even if that looks a little different from the way everyone else does it, and she’s not afraid to use her voice to speak up," Leah continues.
"[She asks] how can I adapt and make this so I can be a part of it or we can?"
"And that sometimes looks different from the way another child may do it," she admits, "but I’m just do proud of them. I love my girls."
Leah also takes some time in the interview to discuss that time a few months ago when some truly terrible people made some very cruel comments about Ali on Instagram.
She calls that kind of behavior "despicable" and "disgusting," which is definitely fair — the comments were on a photo of her daughters in swimsuits, and they were about Ali’s body.
About Ali’s reaction to those kinds of comments, she says "It won’t affect her because I feel like I’m raising a very strong daughter."
"Yes, she has muscular dystrophy, but it doesn’t make her any different than the next person and she deserves the same thing in life; same experience."
Finally, Leah gives a little hint about what we can expect in her segments on the new season of Teen Mom 2.
This time around, we’ll see "the emotional rollercoaster, the ups and downs that kind of take place, raising Ali with muscular dystrophy and bringing awareness to that."
She also assures fans that she’ll be an "open book" about everything she’s been through going forward.
"I’m excited to just finally be myself," she says, "and I’m ready for that."
Doesn’t she sound like she’s doing so well?!
We’re so excited to see Leah, Ali, and of course Gracie and Addie on the upcoming season.
Will you be tuning in for the premiere?