 |  | | Elena — Wellington |
| | | I was diagnosed in 2002 when I was 8 years old.
The first time I went to the doctors before I was diagnosed, I had lost a lot of weight, was constantly tired, and was craving salty and sour things. My doctor sent me home suggesting I eat more red meat and have lemon and water with dinner.
3 weeks later I was still feeling sick, and had gotten much worse, feeling weak, vomiting, sleeping alot, continued to loose weight and had skin pigmentations. I was lying in bed, feeling feverish. My mum checked my feet and freaked out a bit when she saw they were very purple, as if my circulation had been cut off. She took me to the after hours medical centre where they immediately called an ambulance and I was taken to the hospital, an hour away. I was severly dehydrated so had a drip put in while in the ambulance. I stayed at hospital overnight and they diagnosed me with "a new Wellington flu" and sent me home with no instructions or medications except "bed rest".
2 or so months later, I started vomiting one morning on my way to my grandma. I stayed there the night, vomiting severely and feeling very weak and feverish. The next morning I could hardly walk and after collapsing several feet from my bed, my grandma called an ambulance. While in the ambulance, I fell unconscious this time and was taken straight to the emergency room where they put a drip in me (again severely dehydrated- so much so the doctors were shocked) and stayed there for a few hours before being taken to intensive care. I stayed in intensive care for a couple of days while they did various tests, none of which I remember. They tried to diagnose me with several conditions such as kidney failure and other organ issues. Still not getting better, I was being stuck with tubes, and they were taking blood from me nearly ten times a day. After 8'ish days, they finally diagnosed me with Addison's disease and after taking the medication, began to feel better. I stayed in hospital for a few more days while I recovered, leaving after 12 days (the very same day the twin towers were hit).
I don't remember much of my time in hospital because for the first week at least, I was mostly unaware of anything and too sick to notice much except some of the painful tests. They weren't sure I would recover and told my parents this in the first day or so. They later told me if I hadn't come in when I did, I could have developed brain damage,or worse I could easily have died. I also don't remember being told I had Addison's, but I do remember being given my pills for the first time. I also remember many doctors coming to see me after I was diagnosed, bringing their students along as I was a patient who had a condition none of them had seen before. They were all very interested and told me I was very special as they had never seen another case like mine.
After I left, I didn't go back to school for another two weeks, and from then on began to gain back weight, energy and my natural skin colour returned.
I'm now 16 and haven't had another Addisonian crisis since.
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