Mortal And Strong - Scars Of Gold - Voice NO. 78 Astrid

Our latest interview with Dr Liz is the next Voice - the lovely and gentle human that is Astrid. Astrid shares how she has spent her entire adult life with major life changing health issues, which actually originally started from a childhood viral illness. Astrid had a childhood viral illness called Henoch Shonlein Purport which can be a simple uncomplicated illness, but in rare cases can cause kidney damage. For Astrid the HSP did cause kidney damage which went unnoticed. At 19 Astrid was diagnosed with high blood pressure but the underlying cause wasn't picked up on for several years by which point she had kidney failure, was started on renal dialysis and listed for an organ transplant. Astrid shares openly a very rare insight into the physical and emotional journey of being an organ donor recipient and how her donor lost her life but saved more than five others, and the result for Astrid meant she was then also able to go on and have children of her own. Not long after that investigation for a suspected fibroid actually identified a rare fallopian tube cancer - Leiomyosarcoma. A slow growing cancer which eventually spread to her spine and is now incurable.

Astrid's pragmatic and philosophical approach to her health conditions shares a way of approaching life changing health conditions that is really profound and inspiring; how she refuses to be defined by her conditions and is fiercely determined to embrace life, continue to seek joy in things that bring her joy and focusing on the love for her family and sons. Astrid's mindset of being 'lucky in her unluckiness' is an example of how keeping focused on the positives and the present moment can have a profound impact on how one can come to terms with such major conditions. Thank you to Astrid for sharing her Scars Of Gold for this campaign.

Scars of Gold is a health awareness campaign sharing the voices of 100 women facing their mortality at a young age with life changing or incurable health conditions. Produced by the charity @mortalandstrong (No. 1209448).

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