A woman who has spent years in “constant agony” has been diagnosed with an incredibly rare condition that causes her arteries to wrap around her veins and cut off the blood supply to her organs, but claims her symptoms were dismissed as “pain menstrual”.
Katie Shalka, 28, from east London, has had side pains for almost a decade and although she had long lived with discomfort, the pain became “horrible” in 2018 and she fainted at work, causing which led her to seek advice. from a family doctor.
After months of appointments that saw her in and out of the hospital while undergoing various tests, Katie was told that her results were normal and that the symptoms were probably simply due to bad periods, or even pregnancy.
It wasn’t until his family demanded further scans, after about a year of uncertainty, that a specialist finally diagnosed him with Nutcracker Syndrome (CNS).
This incredibly painful condition causes arteries to wrap around veins and cut off blood supply to the kidneys.
Since her diagnosis, Katie has undergone numerous medical procedures, but she says none have relieved her pain and many have only exacerbated it.
She had begun to lose hope of ever living a “pain-free life” until a few days ago she visited a new specialist who she hopes can help her.
However, the surgery he desperately needs costs £50,000, so his partner Romy Ben-Hur, 32, has created a GoFundMe to help raise the necessary money.
Katie said: ‘I’m in pain every day. It never stops being there. Sometimes I have asthma attacks and things get worse. But when that stops, it goes back to what it was before: a constant pain.
Katie Shalka, 28, from east London, who has spent years “in constant agony” due to a rare illness called nutcracker syndrome, is trying to raise £50,000 for life-changing surgery.
‘The idea of having this surgery and not feeling any more pain? I really can’t imagine it.
“I don’t remember what it feels like to not feel pain.”
Katie’s partner Romy added: “She never wants to be a burden and feels guilty for sharing the pain she feels.”
But for her it is constant. It’s agony. I just hope we can help her get back the life she deserves.’
Katie, who works as an actress, says she has struggled with pain in her side since she was a child.
Things deteriorated in 2018 and she started booking GP and hospital appointments, but feels she was never taken seriously.
Katie has had flank pain for almost a decade, but started visiting her GP for the first time in 2018, when it went from “bad” to “horrible”.
Eventually, Katie’s family demanded doctors perform an internal examination, which Katie describes as “excruciating.”
She said: ‘I was on dates all the time and they kept saying all the typical things to me. ‘It’s just your period. Are you sure you’re not pregnant? It’s just because you’re a woman.
“It was very frustrating because I was in all this pain and no one knew what to do.”
One day, while Katie was working at a bar, the pain became too much to bear and she collapsed.
“I just couldn’t stand the pain,” Katie said. “They took me to the hospital and did tests, but they all came back normal.”
However, the pain persisted and Katie went to the emergency room several times. But still, no abnormalities appeared in the blood tests.
Eventually, Katie’s family demanded doctors perform an internal examination, which Katie describes as “excruciating.”
She said: ‘The pain during the scan was unbearable. It was indescribable. But they still said there was nothing.’
Katie was referred to a urologist and almost referred to a psychiatrist because the doctors were convinced there were no physical problems.
She spent months going back and forth to appointments and visiting hospitals for tests, constantly being told that her results were “normal” and that the pain was probably “just bad periods.”
The surgery he desperately needs costs £50,000, so his partner Romy Ben-Hur, 32 (left), has set up a GoFundMe to help raise the money needed.
However, a consultant re-reviewed his initial scan and finally noticed a problem.
Katie said: “He called me again and described my left ovarian vein as ‘torture’. He said it could be a vascular problem.
The consultant referred Katie to a specialist, who almost immediately diagnosed her with NCS.
NCS is a condition in which the left renal vein becomes compressed, usually because it becomes trapped between the abdominal aorta and the superior mesenteric artery.
The condition gets its name because the compression of the renal vein is similar to that of a nutcracker cracking a nut.
In February 2020, Katie underwent left renal vein transposition, becoming the seventh person in the UK to undergo this procedure.
But months later, she was still in agony.
She said: ‘It was horrible. Five months later, he was still in pain, but the doctors said everything was normal.
In February 2020, Katie underwent left renal vein transposition, becoming the seventh person in the UK to undergo this procedure.
Katie was referred to a urologist and almost referred to a psychiatrist because the doctors were convinced there were no physical problems.
“I went on holiday to Türkiye to try to forget about it, but I was in so much pain I couldn’t enjoy it.
“I was also so swollen I literally looked pregnant. It was crazy.
“Then while I was on holiday a doctor called me and told me that one of my scans showed my vein was blocked again.
“So I had to have a procedure again when I came home.”
Katie has undergone several other procedures since then, but says they all focus on “controlling the pain” rather than “fixing the problem.”
He began to believe that he would never get better until very recently his partner Romy, a musician, actor and singer, made an appointment with a specialist.
Katie said: “He told me about a procedure he could do that he said should have been done in the first place and could have saved me a lot of pain.”
Unfortunately, the surgery will be carried out privately and will cost £50,000.
Katie does not have private health insurance and even if she got it now, the surgery would not be covered due to the number of procedures she has had.
So Romy has set up a GoFundMe fundraiser in the hope of helping Katie raise a target of £22,000.
She said: ‘Katie cannot face this financial burden alone.
‘His determination and strength are incredible, but he needs the support of compassionate people to make this surgery a reality.
‘Every donation, no matter how small, brings Katie one step closer to living pain-free.
“Even if you can’t donate, sharing her story could make a difference, not only for Katie, but also in raising awareness about Nutcracker syndrome.”