After going to hospital several times with no one paying attention to me, I thought what I had was not very severe. Now I have 100% of a chronic disease.
By Lina Fernandes, 47
I had a colic every ten minutes while I saw One Direction performing to a crowd of teenagers screaming their names.
I woke up in agony that morning, but then my 12-year-old daughter sadly said: “Mom. Today is One Direction’s concert.” She couldn’t get tickets for it, so I decided to go with her to the venue to see if there were any spare tickets, which there were. I never thought even for a second not to go, I love my daughter, so I did my best to ignore my pain.
The next day, I was no better, so I took Catarina to school and drove myself to hospital. I’d been before. I even had a colonoscopy in Lisbon after a period of extreme pain. The results showed I had ulcerative colitis. But, for some reason, my GP wouldn’t act on the test results.
This time I was determined: “Today I am not leaving this hospital.”
Luckily, a doctor in the urgency department listened to me. Blood tests confirmed the colonoscopy diagnosis. “You’re right, you have ulcerative colitis, and it’s really bad.” The moment the doctor told me that, I felt relieved because someone would finally take care of me.
My problems started when I was just a teenager. My abdomen would swell so that my trousers which had fitted the day before, were too small the next. I thought that was normal. Little did I know that swelling is one of the most common symptoms of ulcerative colitis.
The first time I had severe stomach pain was in 2008. Trips to the hospital were many between then and 2013. I was diagnosed with several things from nervousness; a gallbladder problem; haemorrhoids… Now, I finally got the right diagnosis.
I spent the day on a stretcher in the emergency room. The next morning, I was moved to the room where I stayed for one month and a half.
The pain continued when I was hospitalized. The blood in my faeces scared me. The treatment started by not eating or drinking at all. I was also doing eight pills per day of mesalamine. However, it wasn’t working, so I had to do cortisone. I had two shots of it every day for three weeks and it was still doing nothing.
The only thing that kept me positive was my friends and family’s support. I was specially surprised by my father. I never thought he’d visit me every day. He was very distant when I was young, so we didn’t have a good relationship. But I guess he realised he didn’t spend enough time with me.
One day, the doctors said the only way to stop the crisis was by taking biological medicine.
Each injection of it costs 1300£. However, the Portuguese government paid for it because it was my only chance to survive.
After taking my first four shots of that medication, the pain stopped gradually, it saved me!
The moment I stepped out of hospital and took that first breath of fresh air, I felt alive and wanted to taste all that life has to offer. I started looking at things in a more positive way.
My life was not so positive after leaving hospital, though. I lost my job as a teacher, they said they couldn’t afford sick people working with them. I spent five months without an income. We didn’t have summer vacations and Christmas was very poor. I survived with the help of my parents.
My recovery was also tough. When I left the hospital, the pain, the diarrhoea and the blood were controlled. However, I lost all my strength. The first time I tried to climb stairs I felt scared, as my legs’ muscles wouldn’t work. I needed help for everything! My mom had to put me in the bathtub.
However, I was just grateful I’d survived. I’m sure it would be different if doctors had realised straight away what was happening, but I’d have died if I wasn’t hospitalized that day.
The next stage was developing colon cancer, and I’d have died for sure because my immune system was non-existent.
I believe what got my life together was Reiki, a treatment done by natural healing. A friend asked me to do Level 1 of Reiki with her, and right after I started the self-treatment, on January 2014, I found a new job as a forensic secretary and I found love again.
Andre and I have been friends since 16. We ran into each other because our daughters had music lessons in the same academy. After going out sometimes, we soon realised this wasn’t a friendship anymore. We are still together, and I don’t think our relationship will end.
Nowadays, my life is better than ever, but I still have some restrictions due to my disease: I cannot eat everything as some food instigates my disease. For instance, lactose; I also feel more tired than other people and I still have diarrhoea, blood and stomach aches after a stressful day; Moreover, I have many mood swings.
Even with all these restrictions, I’ll continue to be a very happy person. At the end of the day, I’m just thankful I get to see my daughter grow up and live life to the fullest.