thriving through life

Hi! I'm Charlotte. 1/2 of this blog. 

 

I was born on the 21st March, in a city near London.

 

From a small age, I always knew I was different. 
I was born with a large lump on my right knee, which we were told was just a mass of veins & blood vessels. As I grew up, the lump grew with me, and I eventually developed a limp - due to the tiny size difference in my leg lengths.

 

After I moved cities & got transferred to a different hospital - everything changed. I was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis Type 1. 
After 10 years of thinking the mass on my knee wasn't serious at all - changed into having a life threatening, chronic illness, & the mass on my leg
was actually a tumor. 

 

At the time, my leg was the only thing that developed due to NF. 

When I was 17 years old, I fell & broke my wrist, and a few months later I fell and broke my hip. For this, I had to have surgery
to pin my hip back together with 3 screws & 3 pins. I was in recovery and physio therapy for a good 5-6 months, it was hard, but
I had to learn to walk/use my leg again.  Because of where I had broken 2 of my bones - I went onto more testing to find out I have Osteoporosis Type 1.

 

A few weeks after I broke my hip - I had an appointment in London St Thomas's Hospital to investigate a lump that
had appeared on my neck. It turned out that I had another tumor, and it had grown pretty quickly. A few months later I was having 
surgery at the RNOH hospital in London. (May 2015)

4 months after my neck surgery, I had another surgery to try and debulk, and remove some of my knee tumor as it was giving me more
pain than usual (September 2015).

 

3 months after my knee surgery, I found out I had a bunch of tumors on my cervical spine. After having chronic pain at the back of 
my head for nearly 2-3 years, they finally discovered what was wrong. These tumors were compressing on my spine and 
causing pain - and a lot of damage. If I did not get this removed - one wrong move - and I could be paralyzed. Or if the tumor had continued to grow - 
I would be VERY sick.

 

On March 24th 2016, I had my first cervical spine surgery jury at C3-4. I woke up with not very much feeling or use of my left side/hands. 
On April 22nd 2016, I had surgery for my next lot of tumors, which were on C1-2.

 

The recovery for this surgery was tough, long, and 
horrific. At times - I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. After I had eventually had fully woken up - I realized I couldn't move at all.

I found out my surgery was around 13 hours long - and I had a mini stroke during it. After lots of physio, I managed to start walking a little bit. But my upper limbs 
were not working at all. I could not lift or feel my arms, and I couldn't feel or use my hands. My whole body was pretty much 
numb. I had everything done for me. I was fed, dressed, etc.  After weeks in hospital - and continuous physiotherapy - and i still to do this day, im working towards getting my strength back.

 

Day by day I am trying to improve my strength. The numbness is still there, and there is doubt it will ever be back to normal.
But without getting the tumor removed - I'm not sure where I would even be right now. 

​

As of right now, I am battling a tumor which grew back, located in my neck.  Between cancer scares, and the possibility of being paralysed, I am in the process of kicking this tumors butt! 

​

Now we've got that over with, important information as follows; I love Nicole Scherzinger, Courtney Act, Photography, Music & Puppies. A lot.

​

We hope you enjoy this blog, and get to know more about us, and the world through our eyes. 

- Charlotte xo