My story, Gillie M.

[gillie]

I was diagnosed in 2002 after my immune system failed to cope with a savage ear infection which put me in hospital twice, gained me 2 grommets, and impaired my hearing permanently because of scar tissue. The ENT surgeon was clued-up enough to refer me to the department of immunology, which eventually informed me that I had 0.04% IgG so it wasn't surprising that I was so ill! It seems to have been the menopause that triggered this catastrophic drop in IgG. Perhaps I'd always been deficient in IgA. I'll never know. As it is, I have bronchiectasis which doesn't cause me too much grief. I wear two hearing aids with which I manage very well, and I have fortnightly infusions at Southmead hospital. I'm given Flebogamma Diff.Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with Burkett's lymphoma in September 2012. There had been nothing on my scan taken in July, so you'll understand how aggressive this cancer was. It was touch-and-go for a while, because I caught pneumonia twice, and a fungal type of meningitis once, but I'm still here, as you can see! I spent a total of 9 months in hospital, and have had to learn to walk again, but I'm fine. I can walk a kilometre, swim the same distance, and thoroughly enjoy the company of my toddler grandson and his parents, who now live with me. With a second grandson on the way, due in May, what's not to live for? In the last three years I've lost my mother, my only sister and my husband,as well as being so ill myself but I won't look back. I have bad days, who doesn't, but they're far outweighed by the good ones.