Fighting

Three years ago I was finishing my third year of university for social work and child and youth care. I was an avid hiker, easily walking 10-15 kilometres of rugged terrain a week. I spent hours a day hula hooping, as I often performed with fire. Then, suddenly, everything changed. I developed a staph infection from my IUD, my doctor hadn't read the ultrasound which could have caught the infection in time. It progressed into sepsis and I was hospitalised from acute liver failure. Even after my release it took time for the hepatic encephalopathy to abate, and I had to drop out of university.

Although my liver function came back with no lasting damage, my health didn't seem to improve. I had developed severe tachycardia which worsened when I stood. I began fainting multiple times a day. I had severe sweating, day and night, which in addition to constant urination resulted in unyielding dehydration. My fine motor skills declined, and I lost all feeling in my feet. The symptom list is unending.

I, thankfully, now have a dedicated doctor who diagnosed me with POTS and IST amongst other illnesses. However, treatment has only slightly lessened some symptoms and I have replaced my once active and fulfilling days with appointments, tests, and a search to find what my doctor calls "the underlying, root cause illness" because my current diagnoses fail to answer all the debilitating symptoms.