Meningitis in your words

Ana Castillo's story

  • Location: Spain
  • Categories: Group B meningococcal (MenB), Meningococcal
  • Age: Adult 25-59
  • Relationship: Myself
  • Outcome: Recovery with after effects
  • After effects: Memory loss, Mental health problems
AnaCastillo
AnaCastillo - Meningitis in your words

Mi historia no tiene un pasado. No sé cómo empezó todo ni cómo se desarrolló. Leyendo los informes me encuentro con una historia que leo como si fuera una novela que me han dejado.

Mi primer recuerdo es estar en una cama atada en un hospital. Me hablaban como si me conocieran, pero para mí eran todos extraños. Me vi en una vida desconocida, con una pareja que no reconocía y una niña de seis meses a la que no sabía querer porque mi instinto maternal también se había perdido… todos esos recuerdos de mi embarazo, de mi vida anterior habían quedado en el olvido y tenía que empezar de cero. No sólo a ser persona, sino a ser madre, a ser pareja, a ser hija y a ser diabética. Todo estaba en 0 y no sabía por dónde empezar…

Mi enfermedad es invisible y el cerebro un gran desconocido. Hay veces que no hay un porqué para explicar ciertos argumentos, pero todos los afectados que conozco estamos luchando para una vida mejor, no sólo para nosotros, sino para los que nos rodean, para poder dar explicación, muchas veces sin sentido, del porqué.

El cerebro es el gran desconocido, pero es el rey, y si falla, todo falla. Es el mandamás del cuerpo, y es quien dirige dónde tiene que ir cada cosa y cómo tiene que ir. Si él falla… todo falla.

Hay que concienciar a la gente para que se cuide de una enfermedad que realmente no tiene cura; la única medicina es prevenirla. Nadie está exento.

Si tienes una persona afectada cerca, dale un abrazo, y el cerebro le mandará un toque de energía invisible válido para todo tipo de meningitis.

English translation (translated using Google Translate):

My story has no past. I don't know how it all began or how it developed. Reading the reports, I come across a story that I read as if it were a novel someone had lent me.

My first memory is being tied up in a hospital bed. They spoke to me as if they knew me, but to me, they were all strangers. I found myself in an unknown life, with a partner I didn't recognize and a six-month-old girl whom I didn't know how to love because my maternal instinct had also been lost… all those memories of my pregnancy, of my previous life, had been forgotten, and I had to start from scratch. Not only to be a person, but to be a mother, a partner, a daughter, and to be diabetic. Everything was back to square one, and I didn't know where to start…

My illness is invisible, and the brain is a great unknown. Sometimes there is no reason to explain certain things, but all those affected people I know are fighting for a better life—not only for ourselves, but for those around us—to be able to explain, often without sense, why.

The brain is the great unknown, but it’s the king—and if it fails, everything fails. It’s the boss of the body, directing where and how everything should go. If it fails… everything fails.

We need to raise awareness so that people can take care of themselves against a disease that truly has no cure; the only remedy is prevention. No one is exempt.

If you have someone affected nearby, hug them and the brain will send them an invisible energy pulse that’s effective against all types of meningitis.

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