#117 Georgia Carmichael - Fighting A Terminal Illness | Good Humans with Cooper Chapman on Acast

#117 Georgia Carmichael - Fighting A Terminal Illness

This is the hardest episode I have had to record. Georgia Carmichael is a very special human fighting an extremely rare terminal illness MELAS.

Georgia is from the UK and was destined to be an Olympic rower, winning multiple gold medals at the World Junior Games when she was just 16! But from here her problems began. I slip that caused a brain injury and a 12 month's recovery, followed by another brain injury with another 12-month recovery having to learn how to walk and talk again.

But it didn't stop there, once back to good health and with her sights set on the Olympics she had another accident in a white water rafting race where she had a spinal cord injury which was a very slow recovery, which left her and doctors wondering what else was wrong.

After having a plethora of tests she was diagnosed with MELAS. MELAS (Mitochondrial Encephalopathy, Lactic Acidosis, and Stroke-like episodes) syndrome is a rare disorder that begins in childhood, usually between two and fifteen years of age, and mostly affects the nervous system and muscles. The most common early symptoms are seizures, recurrent headaches, loss of appetite and recurrent vomiting. Stroke-like episodes with temporary muscle weakness on one side of the body (hemiparesis) may also occur and this can lead to altered consciousness, vision and hearing loss, loss of motor skills, and intellectual disability.

Unfortunately, there is no cure or specific treatment for MELAS. However, available treatments can help manage symptoms and improve life for individuals and their families.

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