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\u201cMy first memory of PKU, I think is in kindergarten\u201d<\/h2>\n
\u201cI remember just noticing that I had a closer relationship with the lunch lady than any of the other kids \u2013 and I remember thinking, why am I the only one?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nEven from a young age Eva recalls the feeling of being different from her peers, \u201cI felt uncomfortable sitting at the table, everyone was eating something and I was eating something that looked weird. Sometimes I got comments like \u2013 \u2018what is that? That looks like poop\u2019,\u201d<\/strong> from the other kids.<\/p>\nOne of the major symptoms associated with unmanaged PKU is brain damage and cognitive difficulties which can carry into adulthood if unaddressed. For this reason it can be difficult for patients to differentiate between the disease symptoms and general mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard because you never know\u2026 I\u2019ve had some difficulty with concentration, especially in school, and I will never know if that is because of PKU or if it\u2019s just who I am,\u201d <\/strong>says Eva.<\/p>\nDespite having come to terms with her diagnosis, Eva has concerns about her future, particularly around her ambition to travel outside of Stockholm; \u201cthe scary part is I don\u2019t know what would happen [if I leave Stockholm] and it would depend where I go, but it\u2019s far from certain I\u2019d have the same [support] in another country, or even in another region within Sweden. I feel very trapped knowing that even if I moved a few miles away I wouldn\u2019t know what\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The difficulty of understanding and managing PKU, particularly through turbulent teenage years is something most PKU patients can relate to \u2013 particularly given the discrepancies and transition between child and adult care.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI had more regular contact when I was little, then we almost had a personal relationship with our doctors, I remember them very fondly. They\u2019re both retired now.\u201d<\/h3>\n
\u201cI felt like the older I get the less attention I get. It gets more and more confusing as to know what\u2019s going to happen next. Who\u2019s going be my doctor? Who am I going to meet? Who knows about my blood test? Just confusion in general I think. Between the age of 18 and 20, which I am now, I was still treated as a child patient even though I was technically a grown-up and I think that just shows that there\u2019s really no one to receive me, it felt like I was leaving one doctor, but there was no new doctor to help me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n