Cat’s Whiskers

So in early 2018 i was diagnosed with an autoimmune illness and at first you feel so overwhelmed because you have little knowledge of what that actually means and how it will impact your life. And then as doctors tell you it is a rare but slow progressive illness you start to settle into it. As it is rare, doctors don’t know much, at least they don’t tell you much, just prescribe you with medication to manage your symptoms and tell you not to go into dr Google. Right there is the first problem, as the health team you are seeing don’t provide information, you have to go and try to find it right? So dear rheumatologist thanks for the advice but i need to use google to find out what it actually is that i have and how to live with it.

Late 2018’s i just lost my cat of 8 years, and those of you who have pets and have gone through the loss of a beloved pet know what that’s like, i was gutted, my cat died in my arms and i couldn’t do anything. That period of time was hard, work was stressful, i had a promotion and was struggling to cope with the added stress, i was depressed and sad, felt like life as i knew it had come to an end. But then in the beginning of 2019 i started to feel pressure and pain in my lower legs, it had become such a sensitive area that I couldn’t bear the lightest of touches, even covering my legs with a sheet was painful, can you imagine having to sleep uncovered during winter time? I went to the doctors and they did lots of testing, scans, MRI and couldn’t determine what was wrong with me, i was taking time away from work as my job required me to stand and walk the entirety of my shift. Then doctors booked me for a biopsy and i finally discovered i had an inflammation of the 3rd layer of the skin, it had to do with my blood vessels, the capillaries of my skin. Doctors were now worried with blood clots, i was constantly feeling out of breath and exhausted, so exhausted like i had never felt in my life, every morning as i woke up i just wanted to cry, all of this was just another side effect of my illness. And i was starting to feel its impact on my ability to work as well as my ability to go out and enjoy myself on my days off.