The thing about pain is it demands to be felt

I wanted to start by telling my story. Before the diagnosis. I wouldn’t say that I was particularly happy as I was feeling pain and emotional distress that there was no real reason for. I was feeling uncontrollable amounts of fatigue that didn’t ever seem to subside.

Ever since I left school in 2012 I have worked. My most recent job was working as a staffing and operations supervisor at Victoria’s Secret. This was until last August as in the previous months, I could feel that my body was really starting to struggle. I knew that this was not just the result of long hours and a busy job but, something much more.

I had previously suffered from Anaemia during secondary school and after weekly B12 vitamin injections. I was able to bounce back and complete my GCSE’s. However, this time the injections did not work. I felt so exhausted all of the time. Any common cold or a cough going around I would catch before anyone had even reached for a tissue. I was gradually having more and more days off work although I still desperately tried to turn up for work regardless and work through it.

This eventually became too much for me and with little support from my employers, I felt that my only option was to hand in my resignation and leave. It is safe to say that in the period of time after that and up to the present day, I have felt my confidence has slowly been ebbing away and my sense of self-worth. I hate being unable to build a career and have a steady form of income and I have to realise that I may never be able to work full time again. This is something that I daily find quite daunting and quite frankly, incredibly overwhelming.

I don’t want to be unable to progress and grow in life because of this condition but, the reality is that I can only live day by day and see where life takes me.