Eternal struggle for pop star

[Guest guest]

Eternal struggle for pop star

by JACKIE STEVENS, Daily Mail

As part of girl band Eternal, Kelle spent the Nineties touring

the world. But in 1999, she became seriously ill with the auto-immune

disease Lupus and was told she could be in a wheelchair for the rest of

her life. Here, she tells her story for the first time

A crowd of 100,000 people had gathered in Hyde Park for the biggest

music event of the Nineties -the first Party In The Park festival. For

the first time, Eternal were high on the bill, alongside Robbie

, All Saints and Lionel Ritchie.

I was so excited - it was going to be the most amazing day of my career

so far.

What I didn't know was that it would also be my last performance with

Eternal, the band I'd joined six years earlier, and that my life was

about to change beyond all recognition.

Within months, I'd be in a wheelchair, struggling to feed and wash

myself, and facing a lifetime of degenerative illness.

A week after the performance, the band members told me they no longer

wanted me with them and a stressful legal battle ensued.

I tried to carry on, forging a solo career, but my body had other plans.

Severely fatigued

Just days before I was due to start recording in Italy, I went down

with a bad cold. I felt severely fatigued and had ulcers in my mouth.

My hand also went stiff.

My GP said I had Post-Viral Syndrome and told me to take paracetamol

three times a day. But four weeks later, my face and my mouth were

covered in ulcers and I couldn't eat; I had a scaly rash across my

cheeks, and the pain and stiffness had spread to my arms.

My mum, Marilyn, was worried. She persuaded me to let our family

dentist in East London look at my mouth. As soon as he saw the ulcers

and the butterfly-shaped rash on my face, he said he thought I had

Lupus, a debilitating auto-immune disease which affects the skin as

well as the body.

He told me to ignore my GP and go straight to a specialist in Harley

Street. But when I did, the results came back negative.

The doctor said I didn't have Lupus and just gave me steroid injections

for the pain.

They worked temporarily, but soon stiffness spread to my whole body and

I couldn't move at all; I had to be lifted and carried everywhere by my

mother and my boyfriend.

My manager did extensive research and insisted I get a second opinion.

I saw Dr D'Cruz, a rheumatologist at the London Independent Hospital,

and he admitted me to hospital.

After a week of tests, I was finally diagnosed with Systematic Lupus

Erythematosus (SLE), the most common type, which affects about 3 in

10,000 people in the UK.

Doctors explained that the illness is caused by the immune system

producing too many antibodies attacking, rather than protecting, your

body. It affects skin, muscles, joints and major organs, so can, in

rare cases, be fatal.

I would have periods of remission when symptoms were reduced, but I

might never regain my full strength and could be in a wheelchair for

the rest of my life.

The doctors who broke the news to me in my hospital room said that my

liver and kidneys had already suffered damage because it had taken

months to diagnose me.

But further damage could be prevented with steroids, anti-malerials -

and other immuno-suppressive medication.

However, there was a possibility that I'd be on this medication for the

rest of my life and possible sideeffects include obesity and brittle

bones.

It wasn't until they told me I wouldn't be able to have children that

it really hit me. But when everyone had left the room, I had a really

odd experience. I remember feeling intensely light in my body and

everything around me was light.

A wave of reassurance went through me and I remember saying to my mum

and my boyfriend later: " Don't worry, I'm going to be fine. I'm going

to eat properly, I'm going to exercise. I'm going to do absolutely

everything I can to get better. "

Refused to accept

From that moment I refused to accept the picture the doctors had given

me; I was not going to be ill for the rest of my life.

I left hospital a week-and-a-half later and with the help of my

boyfriend Rene and the doctors I designed my own programme of

rehabilitation, involving positive thinking, exercise and good

nutrition.

I was convinced that with the right attitude and approach I would get

my strength back.

I started with simple things, such as walking to the bathroom and

brushing my teeth, and gradually built up one step at a time. To

strengthen my arms I started exercising using cans of beans. I'd do a

couple of lifts, then have to stop, but this slowly built up over the

weeks.

I made sure I ate plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, had three solid

meals a day, and took an American nutritional product, called Usana - a

powerful superfood concentrate tablet - that would boost all my vitamin

levels and keep my immune system as strong as possible. I didn't eat

meat or drink alcohol. After a couple of months I felt well enough to

resume recording my album.

I'd sing one line and then have to rest for half an hour, but slowly I

got there.

By the end of 1999, six months later, I was ready to start promoting

it. But by this time I was working so hard that I suffered a slight

relapse.

During early 2000, I flew to Los Angeles and the night before we began

filming my video, my hair started to fall out. I was in the bathroom

and it was coming out in handfuls.

It was a side effect of the steroids - and stress. I remember just

collapsing on the floor crying. It was my lowest point, but I still

wouldn't let it stop me.

The next morning I had a wig woven specially for me and had a beauty

therapist use specialist makeup to cover up my problem skin. We went

ahead with the video, even though I was in a lot of pain and had to

sleep four or five times a day.

It was worth all the hard work because my album Higher Than Heaven

reached number 15 in the charts, and I proved that I could make it as a

solo artist.

Back in the UK, however, the first thing I did was to get back to my

rehabiliation regime. By sleeping, eating well and exercising, within

six months my hair grew back and my skin healed. And month-bymonth with

healthy living my strength grew and grew.

Mentally strong

Finally, by 2002 I had more than halved my steroid medication, I was

jogging three times a week and had even taken up kick-boxing again -

something I'd tried seven years before. It had a great strengthening

effect on my body - but above all it helped me keep mentally strong and

positive.

By the end of 2003, I was able to come off my drugs completely as all

my three monthly drug blood tests which monitor Lupus activity or

antibodies in the blood had been negative for more than a year.

I haven't had flare-ups since and in April 2004 I was given the medical

all clear. As far as I am concerned I am 100 per cent better.

My doctor will never say it is completely cured, Lupus can come and go

throughout your life, but I have been told that my recovery is

exceptional, and I am convinced I am in more than just remission.

Today, the only remnants of the illness are scars on my face and arms

from ulcers and the butterfly rash and, if I don't drink two litres of

water a day, the odd twinge from my damaged kidneys.

I am now the patron of St ' Lupus Trust in London, helping to

raise awareness of the disease. I have spoken to many sufferers and my

advice is always to use your mind. It's the strongest tool you have.

When I was diagnosed, I decided I was going to get better regardless of

the diagnosis - and with that mindset anything is possible.

• St Lupus Trust would like to clarify that while lifestyle

changes can greatly help Lupus, there is no cure.

A spokesperson says " Kelle is an exceptional person and an excellent

Patron- however, how she manages her illness would not work for all

sufferers. Lupusis currently incurable but may in some cases go into

remission, but it never 'goes away'.

Lupus by it's very nature 'waxes and wanes' and patients often have

periods of feeling well. Lupus can be affected by factors such as diet,

exercise and stress.

A good diet and exercise can improve how a patient feels, as can

reducing stress - which is a known trigger. As for pregnancy.

Our general advice is for lupus patients not to becomepregnant when

they are very acutely ill, once over the acute episode they should then

discuss pregnancy with their doctor.

Pregnancies amongst lupus patients are very often successful, indeed

our own pregnancy clinic has an 80-85 per cent success rate. "

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