To help raise awareness around hydrocortisone emergency injection kits, we ask you to #ShareYourKit. At the ADSHG we like to feature members of our amazing community, as they show us how they store and carry their kit, to help encourage us to keep our kits with us at all times and normalise this potentially scary situation.

Meet Beth, an emergency nurse and huge Disney fan! She shows us how she stores her kit. 

Meet Beth 

Hello, my name is Beth and I have primary adrenal insufficiency (Addison's disease) and autoimmune hypothyroid disease. I have been diagnosed for less than a year having been symptomatic for over 4 years and it has been a huge learning curve, balancing that with a busy career as an emergency nurse and the small matter of navigating a global pandemic! 

I work as divisional director of nursing for the emergency division at an NHS trust. I am a proud nurse, and even prouder to use my voice and platform to raise awareness of rare disease. I am also a wife and mum and my diagnosis has been a life adjustment for not just me but my loved ones. I’m a Disney fanatic with a dream of one day being Snow White in the Disney parade!  

My kit #ShareYourKit

My kit was the first thing I organised, and I keep one with me at all times, one at home and one at my parents’ house - it’s Disney themed throughout as I am a huge Snow White fanatic! 

My family, friends and work colleagues all know about my diagnosis and know where to find my kit - that’s about being safe! They know how and when to administer my injections and they know what a ‘sick day’ means in an Addison’s world. I also have a seatbelt cover. 

My top tips 

My advice is to join the ADSHG charity, sort your kit, your card, your medical alerts first and know your symptoms. If you’re a health professional, please use the charity resources to educate yourself and your teams.   

For those of us that are proud to be rare and living with adrenal insufficiency, your knowledge and preparedness really could save our lives. 

 

Author: Beth Emergency Nurse Follow Beth on her Twitter @lodge4betty and Instagram @betty4lodge.

Thank you Beth for sharing your kit with us! So join us, if you’d like to #ShareYourKit, please get in touch. Or share online now! Use the hashtag #ShareYourKit and tag us in your social media posts to raise awareness! 

Submit your #ShareYourKit to be featured and raise awareness!

Learn more about emergency injection kits

This article was first published in the Winter 2021 edition of the ADSHG magazine.

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