Me - Part Two - Health 1/2
26.08.2003 at 08:47

Health 1 of 2

I was always the ill kid, I would get over one illness and get another. A constant string of infections, tonsilitis or even broken bones... I attracted bad luck!!

When I was 6 weeks old, the birthmark on my leg which had been the size of an old 10p grew to the size of a grapefruit, a 3D one at that. It started to cause no end of problems. They eventuallly took me in to hospital in October 1983 to remove it. It was MAJOR surgery, I had to have a skin graft, a couple of blood transfusions and it meant I couldn't stand up for 3 months (You try getting a 3 year old to lie down for 3 months!)

I really believe this is were alot of my problems started. During surgery, they cut a nerve with meant years of phsyiotherapy and Start Right shoes (!) They gave me 2 blood transfusions, this was before screening was in place for blood so who knows what was in it! Could this be why I am ill now? Who knows.

I was in and out of hospital for various things all through childhood, they came to know me very well.

My mum was very overprotective (she still is!) especially when I was ill. She had lost a baby, my sister Jane, 3 years before I was born. She carried Jane full term and had no idea anything was wrong. She couldn't stand the thought of losing me too - I was always at the Doctors for something - who could blame her?

I plodded along until I was 13, then I had what they thought at the time was glandular fever, it turns out it was a rare viral infection - the same virus that paralysed a lady with a 2 year old daughter in the next street. This really knocked me for six. I was off school for months, unable to leave the house. I eventually picked up from this, to a certain extent and got back to school, got back to Guides but I never fully recovered.

In January 1996, I had the flu, nothing I hadn't had before but this time it was different, this time I didn't get better. This combined with depression that came with my childhood friend Emma, dying in the February of adult cot death syndrome - she just went to sleep - caused me to develop M.E.

Luckily, I was diagnosed quickly, by August 1996 but there was nothing anyone could do. They (the school doctors and Education people) forced me to go to school, even gave me a taxi to get me there thinking I would be fine with routine. I wasn't.

After 2 big relaspses, In summer of 1997, I finally hit my lowest point, I must have been about 5% on the AYME Scale, although I didn't know about that at the time. I spent months upon months just feeling so ill but not understanding why, I knew I had M.E. but what was that...?

They decided (school doctor again) that my M.E. was largely psychological, that I had issues to deal with. They referred me to the Young People's Unit at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital - a psychiatric hospital. I went there for 14 months. I was depressed, I knew I was but I knew I had M.E. too.

I picked up in the summer of 1998 after I went to Lourdes with a group of people on an bus called the Jumbulance, it has 8 beds and a kitchen on board, as well as seats. I went there very ill, in a wheelchair and came back a different person, a more confident person. I was still ill but I could deal with it.

I went up to around 70-80%, during this window I started working voluntary, just a few hours a week with Radio Lollipop. This meant I could be "normal", they didn't know how ill I really was as I could deal with it. I managed this for 2 1/2 years then I relapsed, thankfully to only around 40% but it was enough to stop me from doing the things I wanted to do.

You're probably asleep by now, I've gone on so long! In some ways it's nice to think about everything objectively again. I'll finish this one later.

Love and hugs

Anne xx

Last | Next