A mum was told she had three days left to live after her skin turned brown and her eyes yellow – and that it was unlikely she’d be able to have more children.
Now, she’s welcomed twins.
From the outside, Victoria Oliver looked healthy and tanned.
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But she hadn’t been on holiday anywhere hot.
In fact, the 40-year-old couldn’t bear being in the sun and had also been sleeping for up to 20 hours a day, as well as struggling with joint pain.
The chartered surveyor brushed off her symptoms until her eyes turned entirely yellow.
And, upon arriving at hospital, Victoria was told her body was shutting down.
“I was told I had about three days left in me,” she told Need To Know.
“If I left things any longer, I would’ve slipped into a coma and died.
“I was sleeping so much that it was like I was in and out of consciousness.
“I had to move back in with my mum, who literally watched me slipping away in front of her eyes.”
Victoria, from Guernsey, had already battled through sepsis after arthritis in her hip was left untreated over a few days in April 2017.
But a few months later, when the aforementioned symptoms began to take hold, she didn’t put two and two together.
She said: “I was craving anything salty, and my hands, as well as any scars, looked dirty because my skin had become so brown.
“I simply thought my tan from the previous summer was lasting really well.
“I couldn’t even open a bottle of water as my joints were in so much pain.
“I could barely eat anything, either, as I would bring anything in my stomach up.
“My mum’s friend said to her that he thought I was dying because I looked so weak.
“I couldn’t do anything with my daughter.
“I was always sleeping and losing weight at an incredible rate.
“I think, in total, I lost three stone in six weeks.”
In May 2018, Victoria had had enough and took herself to A&E.
While there, doctors diagnosed her with meningitis and then encephalitis, inflammation of the brain tissue.
Over the next eight weeks, the mum was “pricked and prodded” while medics tried to figure out the cause.
It wasn’t until August 2018, though, when her mum’s aforementioned friend referred Victoria to his doctor, who was convinced it was Addison’s Disease even before seeing her.
He was right.
She said: “I was given a full-body MRI and a course of steroids.
“Within 20 minutes, I started to feel as though my hands weren’t throbbing anymore.
“A cloud had lifted from around my head.
“And the brain fog began to disappear.
“It was the first time in months that I felt like ‘me’ again.”
Victoria had a second doctor confirm her diagnosis of the disease which causes the adrenal glands to fail to produce enough cortisol and aldosterone.
It’s believed her battle with sepsis was the trigger.
He said that without the other medic’s intervention, she wouldn’t have been alive.
She was prescribed hydrocortisone, fludrocortisone and vitamin D to balance her blood pressure, salt and water levels, as well as keep her bones strong.
An emergency injection kit was also given to administer when her body needs more cortisol to prevent an adrenal crisis – that can be life-threatening.
Sadly, throughout all testing, it was found that it was unlikely Victoria would be able to have more children as her egg quality was low.
She said: “At the time, there were so many other things to get my head around that I didn’t really worry about not having any more children.
“I had my beautiful girl, and I was just so happy to have been given a new lease of life.
“I could go out and not worry that my three-year-old would need to look after me.
“The feeling of being able to be her mum again was incredible.”
Then, out of the blue, Victoria began vomiting and suddenly felt very tired again.
She worried her Addison’s had gotten worse.
The mum said: “I was slipping back into my old ways.
“But it felt different.
“My immediate thought was that my body had become resistant to the medication.
“Eventually, I went back to the doctor, and they asked me to do a pregnancy test to rule that out.
“I knew it would come back negative.
“But then I was met with disbelief when they said it was positive.”
Victoria was told to prepare for the worst, and at her 14-week scan, she thought that was about to happen when the sonographer called the radiologist in.
It turns out, however, that it was because there wasn’t just one baby – there were two.
Victoria said: “My husband went very white and had to sit down.
“I couldn’t comprehend what they were telling me.
“My mum thought I was teasing when I told her the news.”
On 6 January 2019, she gave birth to two healthy little girls.
Now, Victoria is able to embrace life to the fullest and, most importantly, is able to be the mum she dreamed of being to her three children.
She added: “Grateful. I think that’s the first word that comes to mind.
“I’m lucky to still be here.
“Being a mum to twins, as well as to my eldest daughter, is both a privilege and, sometimes, a little bit of a nightmare!
“But I wouldn’t swap my life for anything.
“My husband is incredibly supportive, and I feel incredibly lucky to have the family I have today.
“When I think back to how ill I was, and how close I came to not being here, it’s quite difficult to believe that I now have my beautiful daughter and my rainbow twins.
“They are my reminder that sometimes, even when you think your life has completely fallen apart, you have no idea what might be waiting around the corner.”
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