During winter 2013, I started working as a preschool teacher. I loved my job! The kids brought me so much joy! Sadly a couple months after I started working, I started having muscle pain and weakness, especially my extremities. My legs couldn't hold me up at times, causing me multiple falls a day. I was no longer able to do my job. I thought a couple weeks of rest is all I needed. Instead of better, I got WORSE! I had a lot of memory problems, and my cognitive abilities were effected immensely! I frequently repeated myself, and would mix up words. Numbers, money, times and dates no longer made sense. My muscles seemed to forget how to work. I started using a cane and wheelchair. Some days I wasn't able to lift spoon to my mouth. I started hallucinating smells (always bad smells, why not cupcake scent!?) and having conversations with people that weren't there and experiencing varying altered levels of consciousnesses.
I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's encephalopathy, thyroid disease, and thyroid cancer. It seemed like I'd lost everything over night! I wasn't able to take steroids because of an allergy so i was started on IVIg. It took several months before seeing an improvement.
I'm thankful that during this time I found encouragement and friendships from HESA. It's always nice to knew that I'm not alone. 7 years later I still receive IVIg and feel it saved my life. My cognitive abilities have greatly improved and with the help of my mobility aids I'm able to enjoy my life. I share my story with a dose of humor, the disability hacks I've learned, and my personal mission to make mobility aids cool on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/msaliscia.
https://www.instagram.com/msaliscia.