My name is Yasmine and I am originally from Somalia. My first language is Arabic. I came to London on my own from Saudi Arabia in 1998 when I was 17 years old. I was really confused, could not speak English - I did not understand a word. In 1998 I started college and studied for 2 months until I became sick.
I thought that I had flu, but it was not flu. I went to my GP, he told me to take it easy so I was not afraid. I lost a lot of weight and I was always crying because I was lonely and had not family with me. At last I was taken by ambulance to hospital. I was in pain and they did not know what was happening to me. They did an operation and afterwards they told me I had TB in my stomach. I was very ill and stayed in hospital for 4 months and I was treated very well. I also found out that I had multidrug-resistant TB.
I was afraid and thought I was going to die, but the doctor said that I was going to be OK. When I left hospital I became depressed as the place that I was living in reminded me of how difficult my life was. In the hotel where I was living, I was not allowed to have friends in my room, so I could not talk in private about my problems. I was not allowed in the kitchen after 8 pm and I had one meal delivered each day, which was disgusting.
I would like to thank my doctor and especially my TB Nurse - she helped me a lot to get a good hostel and good food. She makes me feel really happy so my life has changed. At the moment I am working and feel healthy. I am taking my medication; I go to the hospital twice a week - one day to collect my medication and one day to talk to my TB Nurse. So I hope good for everyone (I hope this does not happen to anyone).
Reproduced with kind permission of the UK Coalition of PLW HIV/AIDS
