Lauren Farley-Smith, 20, began to notice the abnormal swelling of her face and other extremities when she started puberty.
When she first went to her doctor, they thought Farley-Smith was just experiencing a severe allergic reaction to certain foods she was eating.
Farley-Smith cut out various foods from her diet – like chocolate and cheese – but this did nothing to change her visibly altered appearance.
At this point, her face was so noticeably swollen that strangers on the street made “cruel comments” about her appearance, causing her to feel isolated and depressed.
“People would laugh at me and kids would cry when they saw me. I was on anti-depression for a couple years. I felt very lonely and confused as to why it happened to me,” she remembered.
Her swelling flare-ups continued and slowly came to be accompanied by cyclic vomiting.
One of these incidents was so bad that she had to be airlifted home from vacation to receive treatment.
It was only then that doctors ran another round of tests, finally determining that Farley-Smith had an inherited blood disorder called Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) that had lay dormant for the past 13 years of her life.
This condition causes Farley-Smith to experience unusual swelling, vomit constantly, and endure intense stomach pain.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a permanent cure for HAE. There is medication that can help swelling reduce in a few days, but this condition is something that Farley-Smith will have to learn to live with for the rest of her life.
“I've got to be careful if I go out with friends, if I get shoved or pushed I have to go home immediately as it can cause an attack,” she explained. The same also goes for the surfaces she touches; anything that could cause her to have an allergic reaction will ultimately prompt one of these swellings to crop up.
Although nothing about her condition has changed over the past seven years, Farley-Smith has finally mustered the courage to turn a blind ear and eye to the cruel comments. “I'm trying my best to have control of it instead.
“I have always wanted to be cabin crew and I am going to follow my dream.”
