Rua Sultan (Photo courtesy)
The life of Rua Sultan, a pharmacist and pharmacy owner in the castle, was not simple. By the time she was 3 years old, her father died, Roa grew up with her mother and three older brothers and had to deal with quite a few challenges. But the real turning point in her life came when she contracted meningitis at the age of 17. "Shortly after I recovered, my matriculation period began and I remember going to the family doctor and complaining that I wasn't the same girl I was two months ago. I felt different in concentration, fatigue, everything. He said meningitis scarred the brain and that it was natural."
Only in retrospect did Roe realize that the sensations she felt belonged to another disease that was erupting in her at the time, and apparently as a result - multiple sclerosis. It is a chronic inflammatory disease that damages the body's central nervous system, during which the immune system attacks a protein called myelin, which plays an important role in transmitting messages between different nerve cells.
"I felt the ground beneath me shake"
The symptoms of the disease vary from person to person and depend mainly on the location of the damage to the nervous system and the severity of the disease, but symptoms include increased fatigue, mood changes, numbness or numbness disorders, limb weakness, vision impairment, urinary urgency and frequency, speech disorders, gait instability and more.
Despite the extreme fatigue she experienced, Roe continued her life on a regular track, began studying pharmacy and even graduated successfully, but shortly after receiving the pharmacy license she dreamed of came the seizure that led to her diagnosis. "I was hospitalized with steroids due to inflammation of the optic nerve and blurring in my left eye, and later after an MRI they told me that I had sclerosis, and that I had already had seizures in the past that I didn't know about. I wouldn't believe it. I felt the ground beneath me shake."
Rua Sultan (Photo courtesy)
The initial coping was not easy. The seizures were frequent, Roe, who had just gotten married, found it difficult to come to terms with the situation. She became pregnant for the first time, and after giving birth faced a significant seizure. Four years later, she became pregnant for the second time with twins, and shortly after her second birth in 2019, she returned to work part-time and was given a new medication, which apparently damaged her immune system and led her to a month-long hospitalization and, according to her, the most difficult period of her life. After going through it, Roe decided to come out strong, stop letting the disease manage her and move forward in life.
"As soon as I decided to make a change, I summoned him. At that time, I was working as a pharmacist at a popular chain, and one day a client came to buy medicine from me and was pleased with the service I gave him. That client is Uri Veterman, CEO of a large marketing chain today, who gave it a significant opportunity.
After a short conversation, during which Roe told her new CEO her life story and coping with the disease, she decided to share her dream of opening a branch in Tira. Roe does not forget his answer, because it is what made her believe in herself and understand that she can succeed. "He replied that my illness is not interesting here, that he sees my hunger and knows that even at the age of 70 I will be on my feet, that he believes in me."
"My branch is a very strong branch, a special branch in the sector because it is the first branch in a village. And exactly a week ago I received the news that I was getting permission to open several more branches in other villages." Today, the branch has been working for 3 years and Rowe manages it with a high hand. The seizures disappeared completely following a new treatment she started, which she takes at home in her spare time. "Fatigue is always there, but the real key is to listen to the body and what it needs at that moment. There are still rarely days when I'm in bed and sleep 3 days in a row. Doing what the body needs."
The sector doesn't talk about it
According to Roeh, there is a lack of awareness in Arab society about the disease, which causes people to keep it secret, including herself. The only people who knew so far about her illness were the family, and a number of patients who spread word of mouth and came to receive reinforcement from her at the distance. "In Arab society it is not customary to show weakness, but only after 12 years of coping did I understand that illness is not necessarily weakness. Everyone in the castle talks about my success, but now they'll see where it comes from."
Now, Roa has taken a brave step to stand at the forefront, to expose her illness to everyone for the first time and to lead the door to cooperation in Arab society. According to her, only in the castle itself there are over 20 cases of multiple sclerosis, but at NGO patient events she rarely saw any of them, because there is fear and concealment.
"I've learned to see the good in my illness. I consider myself a strong woman and I call sclerosis a disease of intelligence - a disease that affects smart women and it doesn't just come, you have to appreciate and accept everything. I realized that what strengthens this disease is the environment. From personal experience - success is mental healing, it's really therapy, the adrenaline that comes out of me every time I succeed, and the belief from the people around me are my steroids. As soon as I made that decision and realized that the burden of proof was on me – that's when I started looking at myself as an equal among equals."
- health
- news
Tags
- Ms