Think you're born to be sick?
Stella did until she was challenged otherwise...

Here we have someone born into a happy family with both parents. She didn’t want for anything and she thought she would always lead a happy and comfortable life. However, that’s not how things turned out for Stella Egbuji...

“I was born in the UK but my family moved back to Nigeria when I was 7 years old. When I was young everything was okay. Mum and dad had their own businesses - my dad was into real estate and my mum owned her own bakery so money was not a problem. But from the age of 9, things started to go wrong for me.”

Stella developed a series of illnesses that severely affected her life to the point that they limited what she could do.”

“In my early teens I didn’t really go out. I didn’t make many friends and spent most of my time out of school because I was sick. I kept having terrible fevers. I would be off from school for 1-2 weeks at a time.

“I’d be admitted into hospital and have tests done but they would not find anything wrong until I was eventually diagnosed as anaemic. It was frustrating because I was always feeling weak. It was like everything stopped - like I was moving backwards. I was put on iron tablets but they didn’t help.“

Doctors weren’t able to control her anaemia so Stella found herself being constantly admitted and released from hospital. “There were long periods of time when I was either sick at home or in hospital.

It greatly affected my schoolwork and I fell behind in my studies. I was sick more times than I was well. I was kept back 3 years in school and because of this I felt angry with God. I didn’t understand why I was sick. I was so frustrated.”

“I used to take part in PE lessons before my early teens without running out of breath. Now if I lifted anything heavy or tried to run laps around a track, I would quickly be short of breath. I used to think it was normal since I would speedily run ahead of others, so I thought it was only natural that I’d run out of breath, especially since doctors could not find anything wrong with me at this point.”

During a hospital check-up where Stella told doctors she found it hard to breathe, they ran more tests which revealed she was asthmatic.

“I was given 2 inhalers - a preventative one which I took three times a day or when necessary and the other to take if I had an attack. Though I used them, I still wasn’t well.

“At 14 I had a serious asthma attack. I was playing with my sister and started coughing. I’d already used both inhalers but they hadn’t helped. The coughing continued until I couldn’t breathe in. I also had a fever that only made matters worse. It was terrifying. I was rushed to hospital where I was put on a drip.

“Doctors put me on stronger medication. Along with my pump, I now also had to take tablets every 4 hours. I hated my life. My parents had money but none of it could help me with my health problems.

At the age of 24, Stella Marie settled in the UK. While one of the first things people do once they move to a different country is get to know their area, one of the first things Stella Marie did was to register with the local doctor’s surgery to inform them of her medical state.

“When I registered with the GP she sent me for a test and said they’d found defects in my blood that they were unable to diagnose. For the next 3 months I had to go for various tests, but still doctors were unable to pin point what was wrong with me. Their solution was for me to wait for the condition to develop so they could try to diagnose it.”

To make matters worse, Stella was having pains in her knees and ankles.

“One day I was walking home when my right knee stiffened and my whole leg just locked! For a few minutes I was rubbing and turning it until it loosened - it was so painful. The GP diagnosed me as having Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).

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