GET NICOLE A POWERCHAIR + HER LIFE BACK
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The photo I have used for this campaign is the last walk that I went on in my beautiful local area before I deteriorated too much to be able to anymore.
My name is Nicole, I am 23 years old and from the UK. My diagnoses as of right now, are Fibromyalgia, Myalgic Encephalomyetis + Chronic Abdominal Pain, but I am hoping to move GP surgeries soon as my current ones are very unhelpful, and I am showing symptoms of other illnesses such as Lupus. I was diagnosed in November 2017, just before I turned 22. Before that, I had been in pain for around eight years. I was constantly told that what was wrong with me was just to do with hormones, periods and growing pains, even in the times where I would be crawling around my house screaming.
In February 2015, things became too much and I begged my gynaecologist at the time to do diagnostic surgery on my stomach- I was desperate, and my stomach pains are the worst symptom I have. All that they found was a lot of damage to my tissue and organs, and my organs all being in the wrong place. At that time I was working full time as a home care assistant, and after my recovery period I went back to work. However, things unfortunately became worse.
The surgery that I had had seemed to start something happening in my body. I slowly had to keep cutting down my hours at work, as at that point I was desperate to keep doing the job I loved, where I got to help people. I had to keep taking more and more sick leave at work, and eventually in December 2017, not long after I received my diagnoses, I had to give it up and go and work in retail.
I worked retail in that job, and after being dismissed from there for being disabled I tried another job. I had all of my hopes pinned on a lidocaine infusion in June 2018, as I was off sick again at that time and hoped that this would alleviate my symptoms, even if it was only for a few weeks. Unfortunately, I was part of the small percentage for whom it didn't work, so I had to leave my job and sign on for disability benefits.
We are now in March of 2019 and my life has spiralled downwards ever since then. When I look back at my health and life last summer compared to now, I have deteriorated so much. Now, I can barely leave my house other than to take my dog outside when he needs the toilet. I live what used to be a five minute walk from town for me, and I haven't made that journey in coming up three months. As you can probably imagine, this is having a really negative impact on my mental wellbeing. I don't socialise anymore, which is in turn making my anxiety worse. My loved ones rarely, if at all come to visit me so the only company I really get is that of my parents when they are home, and that of my amazing toy poodle Yogi, who really really helps me.
I am really starting to lose hope that I will ever get my life back, and I contemplate giving up several times a day. I have a blog, but my pain and concentration are so bad that I struggle to write on that anymore. I used to love music but now, my arms are too weak to even hold my guitar. Of course, I know that a power chair will not fix everything, but what I do know is that it will be a massive factor in helping me to get my life back. I used to have so many dreams and goals, and never did I think that my future would be stolen from me in my early twenties.
If you can help me, no matter how little you think your help will be I beg you to please do so. It has taken me months to even come onto this site and be setting up my fundraiser because I hate asking for help. However, I know that the longer I leave it, the longer that I will be stuck in my house, praying for something to end my miserable, lonely existence.
Thank you.
You can find my [email redacted] if you want to read more about my struggles.
My name is Nicole, I am 23 years old and from the UK. My diagnoses as of right now, are Fibromyalgia, Myalgic Encephalomyetis + Chronic Abdominal Pain, but I am hoping to move GP surgeries soon as my current ones are very unhelpful, and I am showing symptoms of other illnesses such as Lupus. I was diagnosed in November 2017, just before I turned 22. Before that, I had been in pain for around eight years. I was constantly told that what was wrong with me was just to do with hormones, periods and growing pains, even in the times where I would be crawling around my house screaming.
In February 2015, things became too much and I begged my gynaecologist at the time to do diagnostic surgery on my stomach- I was desperate, and my stomach pains are the worst symptom I have. All that they found was a lot of damage to my tissue and organs, and my organs all being in the wrong place. At that time I was working full time as a home care assistant, and after my recovery period I went back to work. However, things unfortunately became worse.
The surgery that I had had seemed to start something happening in my body. I slowly had to keep cutting down my hours at work, as at that point I was desperate to keep doing the job I loved, where I got to help people. I had to keep taking more and more sick leave at work, and eventually in December 2017, not long after I received my diagnoses, I had to give it up and go and work in retail.
I worked retail in that job, and after being dismissed from there for being disabled I tried another job. I had all of my hopes pinned on a lidocaine infusion in June 2018, as I was off sick again at that time and hoped that this would alleviate my symptoms, even if it was only for a few weeks. Unfortunately, I was part of the small percentage for whom it didn't work, so I had to leave my job and sign on for disability benefits.
We are now in March of 2019 and my life has spiralled downwards ever since then. When I look back at my health and life last summer compared to now, I have deteriorated so much. Now, I can barely leave my house other than to take my dog outside when he needs the toilet. I live what used to be a five minute walk from town for me, and I haven't made that journey in coming up three months. As you can probably imagine, this is having a really negative impact on my mental wellbeing. I don't socialise anymore, which is in turn making my anxiety worse. My loved ones rarely, if at all come to visit me so the only company I really get is that of my parents when they are home, and that of my amazing toy poodle Yogi, who really really helps me.
I am really starting to lose hope that I will ever get my life back, and I contemplate giving up several times a day. I have a blog, but my pain and concentration are so bad that I struggle to write on that anymore. I used to love music but now, my arms are too weak to even hold my guitar. Of course, I know that a power chair will not fix everything, but what I do know is that it will be a massive factor in helping me to get my life back. I used to have so many dreams and goals, and never did I think that my future would be stolen from me in my early twenties.
If you can help me, no matter how little you think your help will be I beg you to please do so. It has taken me months to even come onto this site and be setting up my fundraiser because I hate asking for help. However, I know that the longer I leave it, the longer that I will be stuck in my house, praying for something to end my miserable, lonely existence.
Thank you.
You can find my [email redacted] if you want to read more about my struggles.
Organizer
Nicole Eloise Brooks
Organizer
England
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