Dr Honey was on the cusp of completing her medical internship when she found herself on the other side of the stethoscope. What began as a casual health check among friends during an internship became the starting point of a long and painful diagnosis for Dr Honey.
When her results came in, they were far from routine; she had an unusually low haemoglobin count that did not improve despite taking supplements.
With a strong family history of kidney disease, her grandfather had passed away from it just a year prior. Honey pushed for further investigations and ultimately consulted with a hematologist who further advised her to go on with an ultrasonography.
Her farewell had turned into fear as she came face-to-face with her reports. On her final day of college, she found herself walking into the clinic; not as a doctor, but as a patient. What happened next shifted her world.
Her doctor had gone through her family history, he looked at her scan and at her then, he cried. That’s when she knew something was deeply wrong.
The weeks that followed were a blur of hospital visits and emotional blows. Just one month later, her aunt succumbed to the same illness that ran in their bloodline.
Meanwhile, Honey’s own health deteriorated rapidly. Grief compounded confusion as doctors struggled to pinpoint a diagnosis. Eventually, at her father’s suggestion, tests for rheumatic disease were run.
The diagnosis came in: ANCA Vasculitis, a rare autoimmune condition that causes inflammation of blood vessels, and it had already ravaged both her kidneys.
With no time left to pause or process. Dialysis began immediately. What started as two cycles a week became three. Having been on it for almost 18 months she is waiting for her transplant.
In midst of it all, she began to reflect on signs she'd ignored. Frequent nosebleeds as a child. Fatigue. Small alarms her body had tried to sound, long before the reports caught up, hinting at how one should never ignore signals the body is trying to send.
She also found strength in places she never expected. From strangers, acquaintances, distant friends; gestures of kindness that arrived quietly, but landed heavily.
Dr Honey remains an emblem of grace through adversity waiting, healing, and dreaming as she hopes to return to her normal life full of travelling, belly dancing and fulfilling her childhood dream of creating a social impact.
(This article was curated by the content and digital team at Humans of Medicare. Views expressed are their own)
