At St Wulfstan Surgery we are always keen to hear great patient stories. And this one is particularly inspiring. Thank you Teresa for writing this article, and well done! Your amazing journey is summed up by the before and after photo above. Thank you for letting us be part of that journey!
My journey started at st Wulfstan Surgery in 2007 after being diagnosed with arthralgia of multiple joints in 1981. I had numerous hospital appointments and admissions in hospital for treatment of my painful joints. In between, I studied at Warwickshire college and did my NVQ in business administration.
I won an award at college for my courage and bravery as I was poorly but determined to pass my qualifications.
When I joined St Wulfstan Surgery in 2007 I was very poorly, needed 24-hour care and was using an electric wheelchair. My joints had become so painful that I couldn’t walk and my asthma hit a turn for the worse. I developed swallowing problems and I had reoccurring chest infections due to aspirating and food going in to my lungs. I had to have a supra pubic catheter fitted due to fluid retention and incontinence and my kidney test results were not good. I had restricted opening of my mouth which caused me lots of pain and affected my speech and eating. After my jaw surgery, I had to have regular steroid injections in my jaw joints at the hospital.
Dr Viswa and team of GPs and nurses at the surgery have given me outstanding care and attention and looked at different treatments. They provided me a care plan to keep me from being admitted to hospital all the time always being there to support me and my family putting things in place to help my day to day quality of life.
Some days used to be very hard battling with this extreme pain, not being able to move, having to have help washing, dressing, feeding, not being able to sit up as my muscles got weak, not being able to stand as my leg muscles got weak. Later I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia which affected me mentally and I found it hard to cope. Dr Viswa and the team was always there to talk to and help me get through this illness. But the most important thing was my determination and self help!
In 2018 I found some inner strength with my treatment and pain under control. I started to gain some mobility. I remember going to see Dr Viswa for an appointment and she had a surprise seeing me walk into her consulting room on a walking frame. I gradually progressed to being able to swallow better with using special thickener to put in my puréed food and fluids and gaining some strength. Also my asthma had settled as I was not getting as many chest infections and not aspirating so frequently.
Here I am today, coping with my illness with a manual wheelchair as back up and taking a new step everyday. I am waiting for a hip replacement as I have osteoarthritis in my right hip but I keep my determination going.
On the 9th June 2021, I walked down the aisle to marry my best friend in the world ‘Dave’. Dave has seen me through my journey as he was my wheelchair engineer and friend. We got together in 2019. It was a day he will never forget, after coming annually to service my wheelchair, he was not expecting me to greet him at the door, standing!
By Teresa
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