On the 12/5/12 was a normal day. I got up as usual and was doing my housework. I was in the middle of cooking when I decided to have a bath. I prepared my bath, put the meat in the oven and went to have my bath. When I got into the bath I noticed that I could not feel my left side. On my left side it felt as if I was sitting in cold water, while on my right side the water temperature was too hot. I managed to get out of the bath and alert my husband who took me to casualty. Where I was immediately taken to emergency majors, tests were commenced immediately for the diagnosis of a stroke. I was later transferred to another hospital that has a unit that specialises in stroke. I was in the unit for a week where they completely ruled out stroke all the tests came back negative.

At about this time whatever was happening on my left side had moved to my right side on a greater scale. My right hand became completely paralysed and my right leg dragged when I walked. I was unable to walk without the aid of 2 nurses and I had to be assisted with my personal hygiene. Feeding myself also became an issue, as both hands were weak. The holding of a spoon or fork was too heavy and my food had to be cut up for me. I had also lost control of my hands they became shaky, so I spilt my food when feeding myself.  They decided to get a Neurologist to see me; the neurologist saw me immediately and requested that I have an MRI scan on my neck, spine, upper and lower back.

The results of the first scan showed something but they were unable to determine for sure what it was. I was asked to re-do the scan but this time they injected me with a dye. The results of the scan were relayed to me later that day.

The neurologist came to see me; he said ‘You look better than your scan. According to your scan, your hands, your legs, your bladder and your bowels should not be working. He went on to explain that I had a 10cm inflammation on my spinal cord that had caused the impediments in my body.

Upon finding the inflammation they had to find out what caused it. A further series of tests began which included a lumbar puncture and a blood test that took 3 weeks to mature. In the meantime I was also given 3 days of intravenous steroids to aggressively treat the inflammation and from there I was given oral steroids. My right arm is now working but not in its fullest capacity. I am able to work with the aid of a stick; my left side still has loss of sensation.

On the 13/6/12 the test results came back and I was diagnosed with an incurable illness called Neuromyelitis Optical/Device’s Disease. This is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the myelin sheath around the spinal cord. Damaged nerves come with severe nerve pain and pins and needles. It was also confirmed that I have the relapsing form of the disease. The doctors started treatment of the disorder with immunosuppressant and I was referred to the Royal London Hospital for 5 days of Plasma Exchange (PE), this would get rid of the majority of antibodies in my blood stream and possibly aid recovery. The PE did not make any changes to my recovery. I spent 10 weeks in hospital and in all that time I had peace and comfort in heart. The prayer of the saints throughout my illness played a contributing factor to my recovery so far and their continued prayers can overturn the verdict of incurable. Sis. M.C