How it all started ...
Back in 1995 I was a teenager fresh out of high school and, unbeknownst to me, my body decided to start attacking itself. Some time later, perhaps weeks or months after the disease started inside me, I got to experience the first of a series of excruciating pain episodes I could not explain.
That particular morning in late March was no different to any other. By mid-morning it began as a dull ache in the centre of my stomach, and by about mid-afternoon I'd abandoned work to endure a 60 minute train ride home with screaming school kids. I was desperate to be near my family and go to hospital to figure out what was going on. I vividly remember being on a packed train and no one would sit near me. I must have looked like I was dying.
By the time I got to my home station, my parents were waiting and I was grey in the face. I couldn't sit, couldn't stand, couldn't lay-down. EVERYTHING was uncomfortable and I felt like I was going to burst something. Upon arrival at the local hospital I was whisked away behind the scenes, given some pethidine and enjoyed sweet relief like I'd never known.
I stayed in hospital for a few days under observation, had some tests and got diagnosed with Crohn's Disease soon after. This was in April 1995. But that wasn't quite the end of those pains.
It wasn't until May 1996 (after a change of specialist) that PSC was diagnosed after spending the previous year in a state of 'not quite 100% recovered', and having experienced several more 'attacks' of pain and general sickness.
During that time I'd had MRI's, ultrasounds, cat-scans, X-rays and blood tests galore. Eventually my doctor (Dr Ian Turner) correctly joined the dots, and a definitive diagnosis was made via my first ERCP.
That particular morning in late March was no different to any other. By mid-morning it began as a dull ache in the centre of my stomach, and by about mid-afternoon I'd abandoned work to endure a 60 minute train ride home with screaming school kids. I was desperate to be near my family and go to hospital to figure out what was going on. I vividly remember being on a packed train and no one would sit near me. I must have looked like I was dying.
By the time I got to my home station, my parents were waiting and I was grey in the face. I couldn't sit, couldn't stand, couldn't lay-down. EVERYTHING was uncomfortable and I felt like I was going to burst something. Upon arrival at the local hospital I was whisked away behind the scenes, given some pethidine and enjoyed sweet relief like I'd never known.
I stayed in hospital for a few days under observation, had some tests and got diagnosed with Crohn's Disease soon after. This was in April 1995. But that wasn't quite the end of those pains.
It wasn't until May 1996 (after a change of specialist) that PSC was diagnosed after spending the previous year in a state of 'not quite 100% recovered', and having experienced several more 'attacks' of pain and general sickness.
During that time I'd had MRI's, ultrasounds, cat-scans, X-rays and blood tests galore. Eventually my doctor (Dr Ian Turner) correctly joined the dots, and a definitive diagnosis was made via my first ERCP.