Jayna Rana's story

I was studying abroad in Switzerland when I fell ill.

I had a headache for about three or four days and no amount of painkillers would stop it. Light and noise started hurting me too and I started feeling faint and dizzy all the time.

Then one morning I was violently sick and I knew something was really wrong. I went to the hospital and had several blood tests and a CT scan before the doctors came to their own conclusion.

But they had to do one more test to confirm: a lumbar puncture. One of the worst things I have ever experienced. Lots of tears and about an hour later I was diagnosed with meningitis.

The next two weeks were hard; I was lucky it was viral (not as aggressive as bacterial) but I faced other complications: an allergy to the medication which caused my kidneys to shut down.

Another two weeks later I was finally able to go home but it still took a good month or so to recover. Almost five years on I still suffer from cluster headaches and have a condition called chronic costochondritis but I am learning to live with both.

Jayna Rana
March 2018