Secunda artist does not allow sickness to get her down

SECUNDA – Ms Adriana Uzunoglu (52) decided that the Guillain-Barré syndrome, is not going to take her life.

Her love for art and to again hold a paintbrush and pencil urged her to fight the syndrome.

With Guillain-Barré, the body’s immune system attacks the nerves and later causes a person not to be able to walk or move.

Ms Uzunoglu was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré when she was only 13 years old.

She had a strange feeling in her legs when she walked and noticed her hands became weaker.

Ms Uzunoglu was in Lydenberg in the school’s hostel and just collapsed one day.

“It was very embarrassing, I was in the dining hall of the hostel and everyone saw me when I fell,” said Ms Uzunoglu.

She was admitted to a hospital in Nelspruit and a lumbar punch was done.

Ms Uzunoglu was later transferred to a hospital in Pretoria where she was diagnosed with the syndrome.

She had to spend the next six months in hospital and received water and occupational therapy.

She later began pulling herself up against the bed and began placing one foot in front of the other.

“I decided that this syndrome was not going to take my life.

“I wanted to paint and draw.”

Ms Uzunoglu overcame Guillain-Barré syndrome for the second time a few years ago.

The syndrome once again knocked on her door in 2016.

“I was devastated when it came back, I did not think I would ever have to go through this again, but I knew immediately when my legs felt strange that it was Guillain-Barré.

“I thought this could not be and it felt like Déjà vu.

The state neurologist she saw at Steve Biko Hospital, said it was not Guillain-Barré and added that she did not know what caused her hands and legs to become weaker.

The neuroklogist discharged her from hospital without any treatment and Ms Uzunoglu and her husband decided to medically treat herself.

Family members helped her get a hold of white blood cell injections and her husband, Mr Yalcin Uzunoglu supported her and hired a caregiver.

She stimulated all her muscles daily.

She was bedridden for about three months until she told her husband she wanted to walk and decided to get up.

He gave her a walking frame and she used it only for a week, but threw it away and began walking by herself. It was a long and difficult road to recovery, but today Ms Uzunoglu gives art classes and paints daily.

She has nerve damage from the Guillain-Barré in her one hand and in her legs and cannot walk long distances, but she can again do what she loves, paint every day.

Ms Uzunoglu is planning to soon host an art exhibition.

She believes art is a powerful healing tool and also a way to express one’s feelings.

Since she can remember she has been drawing and painting and she won an art competition when she was in Grade 1.

Both her parents were artistic and she said she got her talents from them.

Her father was also a painter and sang and could play the piano and guitar while her mother sings and played the piano and the organ.

Ms Uzunoglu can also play the piano, but lately she focuses more on her artwork.

She completed her Unisa exam in music while in high school and studied theatre crafts for a year before she began working in the admin department.

She freelanced as an artist for an extra income. Ms Uzunoglu now has her own art studio, Kedi Art Studio, which she opened in Secunda in 2015 where she gives classes to young upcoming artists.

“I teach them the basic and technical aspects of art as well as advanced and specific subject matter.

“All of us are creative and can create art.”

Ms Uzunoglu also completed courses in art therapy and life coaching and wants to soon begin with expressive art workshops.