After a year of hospital appointments and various tests, finally I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis in August 1999 during my master’s degree in Bulgaria. I was 24 years old at the time. I had a thymectomy, which was a major open chest operation, and therecovery took a long time.

Before I was diagnosed, I had difficulty speaking, swallowing, chewing, or even smiling and the symptoms were getting worse every day. Living away from home, I was trying to hide my health problems from my parents and was withdrawing myself from friends. Eventually it started to affect my daily life to a point of postponing my graduation and returning back home to get help. As a young woman, it consumed my life and my thoughts every day and I entered a dark time in my life.

After the operation, the surgeon jokingly advised me that my future husband needs to be a strong man to carry me around - in short, I will be a ‘lady of leisure’.

Fast forward 24 years, I still live with myasthenia every single day, the symptoms and the side effects. But I’ve learned how to control it and more over how to never once let it stop me from living my life. I completed my university, moved to the UK in 2001, had a wonderful child, climbed Kilimanjaro, ran the Manchester marathon, cycled 100miles… to name but a few things!

This year I will be running the London Marathon on Sunday 23rd April for myaware, a charity that is very close to my heart. The only one in the UK specially dedicated to supporting people who have myasthenia. I have become a member recently, and also joined a few sessions. I can’t believe how much I’ve learned. Moreover, the biggest satisfaction and joy for me came from 

sharing my experience with newly diagnosed people and to give them comfort and

 reassurance for the future.

Geri

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