Introduction (Paisley)

As it's my first post I will briefly introduce myself and quickly go over the process of first symptoms, tests, diagnosis and my life after diagnosis.

My name is Paisley and I'm 22. I had my first sign of symptoms of a neurological disorder when I was 16. At the time I was working in a care home after leaving school and I thought nothing of it. I thought it was just my body reacting to working long shifts. It wasn't until I changed my job and worked in a cafe where I realized that something was wrong. I was in so much pain that I would come home and cry, no one could touch me without me screaming in pain. After a week I had to leave my job and my mum took me to the doctors. They initially put it down to sports injuries I had gotten previous years but my mum was persistent and then I was referred to a neurologist who claimed it was all in my head and that my mum was making me say I had all these problems. At this stage I started paralysing from the waist down for several hours, my arms would paralyse, my arms would be really weak and I would drop everything, I couldn't remember a single thing that I was doing nor what I was saying. My words were jumbled and it was just horrible. I was so scared and left so lonely because no one understood what was going on or how I felt. Eventually they tested me for MS (Multiple Sclerosis) as my symptoms were similar to the illness. This caused more doubt from everyone because my Dad had MS.

Jump forward to 2011 and I was referred to Dr Stone in Edinburgh where I finally got the diagnosis of FND. I was just so relieved that it wasn't MS as I saw what it done to my Dad and I was scared. I refuse to take medication for many reasons one being I saw my Dad on medication everyday for 11 years and I didn't want that life, I didn't want the life that my Dad had. I found ways to ease my symptoms and I haven't paralysed in a few years now. I still get pain in my back, I still get the weakness in my limbs, I still get memory loss, brain fog and most of the symptoms I had before but I push through it. I don't let it stop me from what I want and where I want to go in the future.

Now at 22 I have just completed my 2nd year of university where I study Business Management, I am starting a course on counselling and I am learning Korean. Everything I do each day I make sure it will benefit my future, whether it is resting to heal my body or studying one of the lists of things I study all of that is steps towards my goals, my dreams.

So I invite you to join me on my journey towards my goals and dreams of moving to South Korea whilst also fighting against my own body and mind. XX