The Mystery Illness

They had been together for five years. Julie remembered the first time she met Paul. There was a magic there that said they were meant to be together. They were planning their wedding, with the ring came a hope for a long future together.

Lately something had changed in Paul. It began with him losing the energy to do the things that he has always enjoyed. She had asked him to go for walks with her under the stars, but he no longer seemed interested. Slowly, he began to experience different symptoms, such as nausea, headaches, and most recently, shortness of breath.

For a while he played it off as having a bad cold, but it never seemed to improve. It was hard on her to watch the man she loved getting worse and worse, but she knew that she was going to stand by his side. This was her soul mate, and she was going to stand by his side.

Finally she talked him into going to the doctor. It had been two months, a cold or flu would have long since passed. He went to the hospital to run some tests, but everything had come back negative. There seemed to be no easy answers to what was causing his failing health.

He was given antibiotics in hopes that it would help, but there was no improvement. In fact, he steadily grew sicker. They had all these dreams of their lives together. Now they both worried if their time together would be cut short.

A year passed, they had postponed their wedding. He now found it hard to walk, spending most of his day in bed. They were constantly looking for specialists who hopefully could give them answers. Each time they were disappointed. There was no question that something was terribly wrong. However, each test that was run came back negative.

Some doctors thought that it could be psychological. Maybe he was just making the symptoms up in his head. Maybe he was having panic attacks. He started questioning it himself. Could it be there wasn't actually anything wrong with him? Finally there was one doctor that he went to. Although he couldn't determine what was wrong, he believed that something was.

Medicine wasn't an exact science. There were always new diseases being discovered everyday. Just because they didn't know what it was, didn't mean that there wasn't something. there. This doctor was determined to help this man get the answers that he so desperately was looking for. He told him of a colleague of his that did research on new diseases.

By the time Julie went with Paul to this doctor, they were both frustrated. They wondered if they would ever find the answers that they were looking for. Paul was asked many questions about his symptoms and how long they had been going on. He released his frustration as he spoke of all the doctors and tests. He spoke of all the things he wanted to do, and how he wondered if he would ever be able to do them. The doctor listened carefully and with an understanding that Paul had not experienced during this long journey.

After a short time, the doctor made a connection with other patients from around the country. There wasn't a lot of cases, just fifty so far. It was still being studied, and there was an experimental treatment. Paul and Mary both felt relieved to find out what this disease was. After just a few months of treatment, Paul was feeling much better. The wedding was beautiful, and they knew that the future looked bright.