Sabine Pitschula suffers from primary immunodeficiency and has been receiving effective immunoglobulin therapy for almost two years now. Since then, the mother of two has regained confidence and more energy for life. The road to the right diagnosis, however, was long and arduous.
40 years until diagnosis
Even as a child, Sabine often had to fight various infections. Later, she increasingly suffered from serious illnesses, including pneumonia.
Groping in the dark, doctors supposed that her delicate appearance made her prone to illness. A series of misdiagnoses followed. Gradually, Sabine began to doubt herself, because although she was athletic, she was noticing to an increasing degree that something was wrong with her. Usually so full of life, Sabine found it ever more difficult to keep optimistic and lighthearted.
No matter how arduous and lengthy the road to the right diagnosis was – Sabine did not give up and kept pursuing the cause of her illness. It took more than 40 years until, after countless visits to doctors and specialists, an immunologist could finally help her.
So for more than 40 years, her symptoms were always looked at individually, but never from an overall perspective. Other autoimmune diseases had long since developed, causing permanent damages. Breathing was difficult for her, she had to be supplied with oxygen in the hospital, was almost blind and was meanwhile bound to a wheelchair.
“You can’t give life more days, but you can give more life to every single day”
With the right diagnosis, Sabine could receive targeted treatment. She considers the therapy, which she self-applies once a week, a gift. It enabled her to regain a bit of her old lightheartedness and energy. True to her motto, “You can’t give life more days, but you can give more life so every single day,” she uses this regained energy to advocate for patients who share a similar fate.
