 |  | | Dale Hammond — Deux-Montagnes, PQ |
| | | I have thought about telling my story many times over. It is still hard to think about it now. I was 37 years old and up until that point hardly ever sick. I started feeling weak and dizzy. My legs and arms often felt very weak. I went to my G.P. He told me I probably had a virus or inner ear infection. I continued feeling poorly. I now had more nausea, which resulted in vomiting infrequently, as well as weight loss. I went back to the same doctor who did blood tests. He said if I could bottle and sell my good blood, I would be rich. It was just a virus and would take time. I waited to feel better, I got worse instead. I lost 20 lbs in one month. I went back to see another doctor at the clinic. He seemed to think there was nothing to worry about. I continued my downward spiral. I was so weak and tired all the time. I had two children to look after. I forced myself to be normal. I went to a third doctor who also seemed to think it was in my head or was this infamous virus.
We had a vacation camping coming up and I decided, since they said it was nothing to worry about, we would take the family camping. I camped, I hiked, and canoed, all the time feeling so ill. It was my son's birthday and we decided to go out for a fancy dinner nearby, I forced myself to be okay again. The minute we left, I was sick. I started vomiting. I talked with my husband and we decide to cut the vacation short. We got home, thank God. I woke up the next morning vomiting constantly. We went to the local ER. The last thing I remember was telling my husband to get someone fast. I had intense pain in my chest, like a heart attack. Nobody thought it was my heart - I was too young. They brought me to a room where I continued to tell them I could not breathe and I had severe pain. My heart stopped beating. I had to be shocked. I was in critical condition. Nobody had any idea what I had. I was sent to the Sacré Coeur hospital in Montreal. My heart stopped twice on the way there. I was unconscious. My chances were slim to none. My family was told to prepare. I swelled up with fluid all over my body until I was unrecognizable. My heart and lungs were full of fluid. I had toxic shock and septic shock. I had to have emergency surgery. I had a tampanade of the heart. The fluid was around the sac of my heart. I was critical and in intensive care for six weeks. I needed to have two more lung operations to drain fluid. My kidneys failed as well and I was put on a special dialysis machine. Every day was critical. They still could not find my problem. It was Addison's disease, but with a difference. It affected my heart. No other disease was quite the same as mine.
Through hard work and intensive internet searches, my doctor and the team finally found two other people in the world at the time who had what I had, or had been diagnosed with it. I started treatment with prednisone and florinef and salt. I had also had to have a tracheotomy. I was holding my own. I got taken off the dialysis. My long struggle to come back took lots of time. I had total muscle atrophy. It was like I was paralyzed; only I could feel. I just could not move anything. I had to have physio every day. I had to be lifted to a wheel chair or other bed in order to move; it was like I was in a crane. I had intense pain all the time from my chest - a crushing pain. I thought I would die every night as I lay there. I cried constantly, especially when my family had to go home. I couldn't. I stayed there for 4 1/2 months. I was starting to walk with a walker. I went to our local hospital for another two weeks. I was let out but would continue physio at home and at a rehab to get my muscles back for four more months and then on my own for a year. I still had lots on pain in my rib cage area and chest. I was told my heart was okay and I was now covered by the cortef I was now taking. This changed my life and how I looked at everything. I try to appreciate every little thing, especially family and nature. I now know life can be taken away in an instant, no matter how old you are. That we should do the things we want to do now, not later - we may not get it. To prove to myself and everyone else I was going to be okay, I went to work after being a stay-at-home Mom. I had to travel for an hour twice a day, then work eight hours. It felt so wonderful to be able to walk, and do what other people do everyday.
That was eleven years ago. I am now 48 years old. I work out at a gym three times a week and have built up my stamina. I have been doing this for three years. I just finished getting my certificate to become a personal trainer specialist. It is something I really want to do. I know what it is like to feel weak, and to have to start from nothing and work your way back. I have done this several times in my life. I want to help people get in good health, no matter where they are starting from. I need to learn a lot more but I have time.
I had Addison's cardiovascular. Extremely rare. It could have been caught earlier. It was four months seeing three different doctors. No one did tests. I did not show dark skin, as it was summer. I had a tan by the time I crashed. I was young and looked to be healthy. Why did they look no further? What would my life have been like had they found it (Addison's)? I still remember so many horrible days and nights. But have gotten on with my life. I have had episodes where I am low in cortisone when I am sick. But over all, I am in better shape than a lot of people, and I never take it for granted.
Thank you for giving me the chance to finally tell my story. There is a lot more I could tell, have forgotten or left out. I hope people reading this can learn from it. - doctors, people who live with Addison's and their families
I am doing alright.
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