Jasmine's Place Issue No. 19 - September/October 2017 | Page 33

As women, so often we have to be the strong ones who take care of everyone else. Maybe that was why it was such a shock when, overnight, my life changed beyond recognition and I found myself with no idea of what to do next. Careers Counsellor. We’d even just had a wonderful holiday to celebrate my 30th Birthday and were full of hopes and dreams for the future. And then it happened. I woke up in agony, was rushed in an ambulance to hospital, and nothing would ever be the same again. I was told I had internal bleeding in my kidney and a growth that the doctors suspected was an aggressive form of cancer. I was at a total loss, so I turned to the one Person I knew – the God I had followed since I was 15. And I clung to Him for dear life. I just couldn’t believe what was happening. It was February 2002. Life was so good. I’d been through a lot over the years but now things finally were starting to come good. I had a loving husband, my soulmate since I was sixteen. We had just bought the house together that we’d been dreaming of for years. I had a job I loved, working as a I underwent major surgery and then some amazing news came: The growth wasn’t cancer! The doctors told me it would take me 3 months to recover from the surgery and then I would be able to live a totally normal life. I was overjoyed. But then, without warning, my side burst open and fluid began gushing out. The doctors tried everything but I developed serious complications and ended up with a severe form of an illness called M.E.. which left me JASMINE'S PLACE 33 33