When fear and disappointment become a strength

When fear and disappointment become a strength

Everything changed

After my hospital stay, my entire life changed. Everyone treated me like a raw egg. I was not allowed to do much of anything anymore and I developed lots of fears. My parents were afraid that everything wasn’t completely healed and that something could break out of nowhere at any time. I was no longer allowed to go out alone or with friends and I had to come straight home from school. I was very ashamed of the corset I had to wear to stabilize myself. Everyone could see that something was wrong with me. I was no longer allowed to take part in sports activities at school. I then began to automatically distance myself from everyone and everything. The questions, the looks, the special treatment, all that got on my nerves. I preferred to be alone with my fantasy, which I then became very creative in and created a beautiful world in order to escape reality. I was afraid of not growing anymore, after all, I was only 11 years old and my spine was already damaged. Of course, I was also afraid of what it meant for my future. I shared my parents’ fear that bacteria could attack my lungs and/or spine at any given time. My greatest fear, however, was being in a wheelchair and being on a ventilator. My breathing had drastically deteriorated and I was short of breath. Climbing stairs, even short ones, short distance walks etc, completely robbed me of energy and breath. I was quick and easily out of breath – a total disaster for any singer. To this day I find it difficult to hold notes for a long time. I was involuntarily in need of care.

The illness robbed me of my spontaneity, my freedom, my joy of movement and my singing voice but the worst thing was that it robbed me of my self-confidence and self-worth. I felt broken.

I thought I was no longer beautiful or lovable because of the corset I had to wear. I wore a lot of loose tops which automatically made me look fatter than I already was. In the end, I could hardly move for over a year.

An illness rarely comes alone

As if that wasn’t enough, I developed Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating). The cause was most likely my severe illness with TBC. After hospitalization, I had to wear a medical corset for a year to support me. I wasn’t allowed to take it off. In addition, I had weekly physiotherapy. I was forced to wear the corset to stabilize my spine and exercise my joints. I had to relearn many movements over again.

On the right side of my body, I have a huge scar that goes from my hip to under my armpit. I still have a lot of back pains sometimes but I’m alive, I can walk and my body is healthy again. A big thank you to our family doctor and my father. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here. I would no longer exist, at least not in this form.

Imagine you are on your way to adulthood, about 12 years old. Do you remember how embarrassed you were? And now think of every situation you were in, that is already embarrassing to you in a normal state. Now put yourself in my shoes, with TBC and Hyperhidrosis, in those same situations. You would sweat profusely. So much so that you’d think you just came from working out. Some days it was so bad for me that you’d think I’d just come out of the shower. Now imagine not being able to have birthday parties, a wedding or even a normal get-together with your friends let alone dance because fear makes you sweat twice as much. I don’t know if it was a nerve pinch or if it was a delayed trauma. Either way, I couldn’t stand the heat anymore so I often preferred to spend my time alone doing things that would calm me down and keep me cool.

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