The Seasons of AIH - history - emotional trauma

To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born a time to die a time to plant and the time for uprooting what has been planted.

The seasons of AIH vary throughout the course of life.

Having AIH is like having different seasons throughout your life they’re just not predictable and you have to learn to flow with the wind through seasons. You don’t really know when the next season will arrive or how long it will last a whether it’s an easy season a hard season

I have an auto immune disease called Autoimmune Hepatitis. Simply put my immune system thinks that my liver is an enemy to my body and is it attacking it. I don’t know if all cases are the same but I have been told that my auto immune disease is hereditary and something has triggered it. The issue is the trigger is unknown and highly debated as to what it is. Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH) is a rare disease at this point in time very little studies have been done and treatment is based on medications form 1950 and 1960.

I first discovered this issue in 2008 while living in Los Angeles. It was the day before Thanksgiving and I woke up to yellow eyes and knew something was wrong. I went directly to an urgent care but since it was a holiday weekend I was unable to get into a specialist until the following week. That specialist performed a number of tests, including an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and CT scans. He was determined that it was something to do with my Pancreas and all of his test came up negative. Several weeks had went by and I had lost a large amount of weight because I was unable to eat. My entire body was yellow, including the whites of my eyes. I was extremely sick and work was impossible. He finally sent me to a liver specialist who was on the liver transplant team at UCLA, Dr Leonard Goldstein. More tests along with a liver biosy. The pathologist spent two weeks reviewing my biopsy and came to the conclusion that I had been poisoned. They could not figure out what had poisoned me and I had no idea how this happened. Later I was told I had hepatitis. I was disabled and went to live with my sister for a period of time. Weekly blood tests, horrible medications and a chronic illness that I would need to learn how to live with. I don’t even remember how many weeks it took me to be able to do something other than lay in bed or sit on the couch. I was slowly able to gain some strength and eventually was able to walk around the block. I was able to get it under control enough for me to be able to return turn to part-time work to get me by.

Trama My Primary Care Physician recently recommend that I find a therapist to speak to. I hadn’t thought about it before but yes my first experience with AIH was very traumatic. My entire body was yellow, including the whites of my eyes. I lost a lot of weight, couldn’t eat and I was very sick. I couldn’t figure out why they didn't put me in the hospital. I had to ask for a wheelchair at times and use the motorized shopping carts at stores. I couldn’t walk to the mailbox much less around the block. I was homeless for a while, slept on a friends couch, lived in a hotel, rented a room from a friend who’s son was worried I would die in her house. I finally could fly cross country to go live with my sister and thank God I had her because I don’t know where I would’ve been. I was completely disabled not knowing what I was going to do for the rest of my life and I what that life is actually going to be or how long. I’ve lived in some kind of survivor mode survival mode most of my life and that just kicked in. I don’t think I ever emotionally dealt with it. –