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2003 was a fairly typical year in the life of my illness. In January, I woke up one morning to find that my face was half paralysed…on the vertical! I looked like someone from a Francis Bacon portrait, not a good look on the High Street. My eyelids would not shut which was surprisingly problematical. Apparently, your eyes dry out in a rather unpleasant way without the natural lubrication provided by the opening and closing eyelids. Within a couple of weeks, I was back in hospital for more steroids. This set the pattern for the year.
An inner ear infection provided an additional, supplemental, enriching hospital experience and another opportunity to hone up my projectile vomiting skills – no spatter, no touching the hair, straight into the bowl – top marks! Numerous investigations into sundry infections and problems, three more hospitalizations following relapse. I am so sick of hospitals, form filling in, medication, doctors, nurses…ugh!
In mid November 2003, over a four day period, having been stable for a few months, I lost all of the vision in my right eye. I spent the first week of December in hospital having more steroids. I am now waiting (rather anxiously) to see (!) if my vision returns. It always has previously but the loss of vision has not been as bad as this since 1999 and it took ages to come back then. You do worry, each time, if this is the time it won't....aaaaagh! I also lost the use of my hands and arms too: so badly, that, for the first time ever, I could not transfer into the car and had to use cabs to travel everywhere... v. expensive and incredibly inconvenient!
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