My personal medical Journey

Hi, I'm Nicky and I'm 48 years old. I was born in 1967

I was wrongly diagnosed aged 12yrs as being Asthmatic, this was an easy assumption to make as my late dad's late brother was also a Brittle Asthmatic, he had a huge hump on his back which was assumed due to his constant coughing as a child. He was born in 1934 and medical information was not as it is today. When I was 18 months old I was admitted to Great Ormond Street children's Hospital in London UK.

The reason for admission was that I was producing up to 14 dirty nappies a day, foods would pass through my system in digested and I was immensely small for my age, and was failing to thrive. I was tested for celiac disease, but that came back negative, after 6 weeks I was allowed home, at the age of 6 I still resembled that of a 3 year old.

Aged 12 I was rushed to hospital with breathing difficulties and later discharged with an array of inhalers and a diagnosis of being Asthmatic.

Years went by and in 1995 I had a total Hysterectomy and in 1997 I was diagnosed as having COAD, as it was known then as chronic obstructive airways disease... In 2005 I became very poorly with night sweats and this went on for 6 months and I was diagnosed as having Hyperthyroidism, and in a thyrotoxic crash. Also during this time my youngest son was diagnosed with ankylosis spondylitis and during this time we found out that myself and both my sons tested positive to HLA B27 which can pre dispose Auto immune disease, further tests identified that I had old scheuerman's disease of my spine and kyphoscolliosis which we found out was the initial cause of my breathlessness aged 12yrs, and not Asthma...but I had been reliant on the inhalers and could not stop using them, which long term have been beneficial. In 2006 I under went carpal tunnel release, then had 4 bones removed from my left hand and also had the bone in my left elbow shaved and an ulnar nerve decompression on my right arm. In the Christmas of 2008 I was very poorly with bilateral pneumonia and was in intensive care for a while... From there on my health had declined. I have since that time been diagnosed with Stage 3 Emphysema and conditions almost covering every letter of the alphabet.

I deal with Asthma, Avascular Necrosis, Auto immune deficiency, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, partial bilateral Deafness and bilateral Tinnitus, Eustacian tube dysfunction, Emphysema, Hyperthyroidism, irritable bowel disease, Kyphoscolliosis, Old scheuermans disease, Mastoiditis, Ménière's disease, Osteoporosis, osteopenia, osteonecrosis, Raynauds Phenomena, peri neural cysts on my spine, vertigo and Jaw Joint Dysfunction which in March of this year (2015) I underwent a 6 hour surgery to replace both my jaw joints with Titanium jaw joint prosthesis. I had to travel to a hospital 180 miles away in Birmingham UK, to have the procedure with a specialist trauma anaesthetist and Maxillofacial surgeon. I also have regular injections of my left knee due to medial collateral Ligament damage after being knocked over by a Great Dane dog.

That's my story and thank you for reading.