Kathryn says thank you to plasma donors

My story starts with me being diagnosed with CIDP - Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy back in April 2018. This is a rare neurological auto-immune disease, that in my case and somewhat typically of others, is characterised by progressive weakness and numbness and sensory function of my hands/arms and legs. I am a teacher and I noticed that I was dropping the whiteboard marker way too many times along with tripping over ‘nothing’ on the classroom floor. This led me to 'search out' what was going on with me. My body’s natural defenses make my antibodies attack the perfectly healthy myelin sheath around my nerves, therefore ‘wasting’ away my muscles. There is no known cure and at present there are only a few treatment options available to try and curb symptoms and at best help the CIDP go into remission for a period of time.

Firstly, after many unsuccessful rounds of differing medications and then IVIg - which I had an allergic reaction to, my Neuro team decided that plasma exchange was the only other option available to me to help keep my symptoms ‘at bay.’ I now travel up from Taranaki regularly every 3-4 weeks for plasma exchanges at Waikato Hospital - since October 2018 - this is my ‘new normal’. To date I have had some 60 exchanges and I am eternally grateful for the many New Zealanders who give of their time, support and their blood/plasma to help myself with this debilitating disease. I know it is not an easy process for one to go through and ‘thanks’ seems such a little word to express the enormous gratitude I feel for the gift of plasma. I am proudly still teaching, although only 4 days per week this year as I become tired more often and my handwriting has become increasingly hard to read - my students can write far more neatly than I can!

Thanks once again and much aroha to the many wonderful giving people out there who help me continue to do the things I love - living a fulfilling life and enabling me to ‘be here’ for my family, friends and my students.