Tammy’s road to recovery – ‘I’m forever grateful to be where I am today by the grace of God’

Tammy Wait (30) was born and raised in Emalahleni, an outdoors person who have enjoyed all aspects of nature.

Therefore, when sickness struck her in 2015, it felt as if her whole world started falling apart.

“I started feeling a sudden discomfort in my joints, but a first thought nothing of it.”

Tammy began to worry when a few months down she noticed redness and swelling on her joints, particularly her elbows, hands, knees, and feet.

Whilst the pain got worse, she thought it best to go see a doctor.

After running a couple of blood tests, the doctor diagnosed Tammy with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) which is an auto-immune inflammatory disease where the body attacks itself.

In 2016 Tammy mentions that she suffered greatly as she battled to walk or successfully execute her daily duties.

She mentioned she had to be placed on a waiting list before she could be referred to a specialist where she admits to having been put on heavy medication, and she constantly had to have her blood and urine tested to ensure her organs were not failing, but complying with the medication.

“In 2017 I started to really suffer and was put in a hospital where they did an infiltration to try to bring relief to my joints. I started to notice I couldn’t bend my arms, was slouching, having difficulty walking and using my left hand.”

The following year, Tammy was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon where she had to undergo hand surgery as she at the time could not use her one hand, and also a knee operation where she was provided with special soles to accommodate her feet to walk.

Tammy says at some stage she experienced difficulties breathing around August 2019.

She explains that she is a very independent woman and struggled emotionally when she had to rely on the help of her sister to do the slightest things like getting out of bed, bathing, and dressing.

“Once diagnosed with RA, you are prone to suffer from depression and the devil was having a field day with me because I often thought I was being punished, but I prayed to God to help me through,” Tammy emphasised.

She says because she was drinking over 250 tablets every month, she had lost all hope until she came across a Facebook post about New Life Church. She went for her first Sunday service in September and was in extreme pain.

Her specialist often let her know there was no improvement in her situation as she was also suspected that she was developing Lupus, “The specialist told me there was no cure and I could only try to control my pain and be as comfortable as possible. The ride back from Pretoria was devastating for me and my family. I let them know that if it was God’s will, I would accept my fate.”

As she explained her second visit to New Life Church, Tammy recalls the feeling of relief she received after pastor Ryan Langkilde prayed for her.

She proceeds to explain that night she had a peaceful night’s sleep for the first time after she fell sick four years ago.

“After I made the conscious decision not to go back to the specialist, I decided I would only consult with my local general practitioner (GP). One Sunday there was an altar call and my mom encouraged me to go up. She helped me to my feet, and it felt like forever to get to the front. Pastor Ryan started to pray, I felt warmth and a tingling sensation from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. I then started to feel the pain go here and there. I sat down and got up again without any help,” she explained.

Tammy has been part of the church for three years now.

“The people at church have been a great support, and they are all family to me. I’m forever grateful to be where I am today with the grace of God and serve at church as much as I can,” Tammy rejoices.

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