SEEING their child happy and healthy is every parents dream, which is why Forest Hills parents, Hugh and René Glen are desperately trying to raise funds to help their only child, Melissa, cope with her long term neuromuscular disease, called Myasthenia gravis (MG).
Melissa (33) began experiencing symptoms of the disease in 2014. She constantly suffered with severe headaches, double vision and instability in all her muscles.
ALSO READ: Help raise funds for Keta’s medical trip to Italy
The doctors had a difficult time in diagnosing the disease and eventually came to the conclusion that she was suffering from Myasthenia gravis disease in May last year.
The disease leads to varying degrees of skeletal muscle weakness and she is no longer able to support herself.
Illnesses
Although Melissa lived a healthy life previously, she did have a history of illnesses. She was born with thyroid disease, she later discovered that she had Graves disease in 2003 and now suffers with Myastenia gravis.
Melissa matriculated from Treverton College and pursued her tertiary education in veterinary nursing in Pretoria.
She had only completed a year of her studies before the Graves disease started and she unfortunately had to give up her dream to become a veterinary nurse.
She then completed her Bachelor of Science Honours in biological science at UKZN and was so close to completing her PhD before she got ill again. She was working at Hillcrest Pets for a while but had to give up her job too.
ALSO READ: Rare Disease Day puts spotlight on research and awareness
“Everything that I held so close to my life has ended. A doctor advised me once that I have to be patient with this disease as there is no cure, and that is definitely what it has taught me,” said Melissa.
It takes Melissa a lot longer to do things than an average person would and she has become completely dependent on her parents.
Melissa’s parents found it difficult to cope with Melissa’s ongoing medical expenses, as she is in and out of hospital every six weeks, and on medication to treat the symptoms which is quite expensive. Medical aid won’t cover the expenses and the treatment is trial and error. Both Glen and René are retired botanists and sadly their pension funds are insufficient to cover all the medical costs.
“Melissa is very strong as this is a debilitating disease. And even though she’s been through so much of weakness within her body, she always maintains a big and warm smile,” said René.
Fundraisers
The Glen family was advised by the congregation of the church they attend to host fundraising events. They have already hosted one event which raised funds for Melissa to see a specialist in Groote Schuur Hospital earlier this year.
The second fund-raiser is a talk titled, A tree remembers by Hugh Glen, which takes place at the St Agnes Anglican Church, Abelia Road in Kloof on Tuesday, 10 October at 6.30pm.
There are some really old trees in the Kloof area that he will talk about as well as the history of the area when these trees were young.
Tickets for the talk cost R50 each which includes the entrance and a light meal with refreshments, as well as a few lucky draws. Booking is essential for catering purposes. Contact René Glen on 082 904 8716, 031 762 1403 or -mail: lissie1@telkomsa.net
Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Highway Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts
