MEDICAL MARVEL: Paul Brain, Birmingham IA member
My story starts in 1988 when I just didn’t feel right so I went to the doctors who sent me for blood tests. The results showed that I may have a liver problem. I found this strange as I was not a big drinker and had never smoked and kept myself reasonably fit doing swimming and squash. This was a very worrying time for my family and especially for my wife. We went to the Liver Clinic at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and I was told that I had Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (P.S.C). Medication helped for a short time but then my skin became very yellow, and my condition declined rapidly. My children, aged 7 and 12, could obviously tell at this stage that there was something wrong as Daddy no longer had the energy to do anything with them. At that point I was told I would need a liver transplant and I was put on the transplant list. On the 19th January 1992 I received a call to say that a donor had been found and I was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and my liver transplant took place the next day, 20 January 1992, which happened to be my daughter’s 8th birthday.
After my recovery my life was going along normally for a good number of years but then I began to feel unwell again. Another visit to the doctors’ and following more blood tests I was sent for a colonoscopy as my quality of life became virtually non-existent. I was then diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. Medication held it at bay for a while, but I became so unwell that I was struggling even to go out shopping and was told the time had come to have an ileostomy which was performed on 26th November 2002. After a successful operation and a mixture of good and bad days I started the journey back to a normal life.
Unfortunately, because of my other health conditions I was not immediately made aware of Birmingham IA, but when eventually in 2004 I was told about the organisation I became a member and what a good thing that was! I started to go to coffee mornings with my wife and was given a lot of very practical support from fellow members together with some hints and tips which made life a lot easier. Birmingham IA also arrange speakers and organise social events and trips out. While the work of the doctors and consultants are amazing, there is nothing like talking to someone in the same situation who has experienced similar problems. Joining Birmingham IA was definitely the best thing I could have done: they have helped me so much with my journey and inspired me to train and complete the course to become an IA One2One support volunteer with them.
Continuing my story, everything was progressing well until 2018 when I began getting up to pass urine a lot in the night and following more tests I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Thankfully this was successfully treated with radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Gentlemen of a certain age, please make sure you get checked …. early diagnosis is so important.
During Covid at the beginning of December 2020 I was having a normal Sunday morning. We had just finished a zoom meeting with my 9-year-old granddaughter when I suddenly developed pains in my chest and arm and did not feel right. My wife rang 999 for an ambulance and when they arrived, they took an ECG which showed that there was something not quite right and they were going to take me into hospital for some more tests. Then everything became a blur as I was having a heart attack. Obviously, I don’t remember what happened, but the next thing I remember is waking up in hospital three weeks later. At this time, I was told that I had restricted movement in my left arm and leg following a stroke and had caught Covid. After eight weeks in hospital unable to have visitors and with excellent care from the medical staff and with physiotherapy I was able to go home. Physiotherapy continued at home and once again I made a full recovery. My wife, family and I will always be extremely grateful to the paramedics, doctors and nursing staff who worked so hard to bring me back to life.
As you can see from my story, whatever is thrown at you, hope, determination, and support can help get you through.
