After marrying her husband, a woman discovered she was partially blind just a few days later.
Chelsea Shields, a 28-year-old from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, shared that she feels like she’s “a 90-year-old” due to a medical condition affecting her.
Chelsea married Connor, 34, in August, but only five days after their wedding, she awoke to find the vision in one of her eyes had started to fade.
Initially, doctors suspected Chelsea might have multiple sclerosis (MS) as her condition began to affect her other eye.
Not long after these symptoms appeared, Chelsea had to be hospitalized. Her condition worsened, leading to a severe headache that left her in intense pain.
During this time, her condition deteriorated to the point where she was in severe discomfort, unable to walk, and required catheterization.
Eventually, the medical team identified the condition affecting her.
“I’ve always had issues with muscle weakness and pains. I’ve had back-and-forth visits to GPs and A&E for about 10 years,” Chelsea explained.
“But the worst symptoms I’ve experienced came five days after my wedding. I woke up unable to see out of my right eye. It was complete darkness.
“I was panicking. I thought in my head – what if I’m going blind? What if I’m not going to be able to see my children growing up?”
After four weeks of uncertainty, Chelsea received a diagnosis of functional neurological disorder (FND), a condition affecting how the brain communicates with the body.
Chelsea remarked, “Before I was diagnosed, I’d never heard of FND, but it’s actually more common than people would think.”
“It can be very unpredictable, so it can mean anything from seizures to paralysis, which makes it even harder to get the right help.”
The disorder can be difficult to identify, and treatment often revolves around managing symptoms through physiotherapy and medication.
“The main symptom for me is brain fog, which is quite bad when you have young children,” Chelsea, a mother of three, stated.
“I have a lot of weakness in my legs, so 99 percent of the time I walk with a stick or crutches. There are times when I can’t feel my legs and I can’t physically walk.”
Despite taking ’20 tablets per day’, Chelsea continues to endure ‘constant pain’.
She reflected, “I’ve gone from a fully functional mom of three to feeling like I’m a 90-year-old.”
“Three months ago, I never thought this would be my life.”
Chelsea has created a Facebook page to share her experiences and raise awareness of FND, describing the daily challenges of living with this disorder.
“I can’t work, so I’m putting all my time into raising awareness,” she shared.
“I want to share everything, because I know it will help people.”