The fight is pink

When I read the theme of this week's Steemit Engagement Challenge S12 W5 | The fight is pink topic, the first person that came to my mind was my mother because she suffered from heart problem but the next person, even though she was not my family member but who was going through a strange disease, was my friend who was close to me during college days.

  
I am no longer in contact with her but with her father, who gives me updates about her illness and progress. Now, whenever I see a twenty-year-old girl working hard on her studies without taking care of her fitness or mental health, Rita my friend comes to mind. I would like to invite my esteemed friends @rosselena @josevas217, and @graceleon to share their views on this issue.

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"I always look on the positive side and in a weird way just thought of it as another adventure. Not for a single second did it go through my head that I was going to die." —Caroline Monk

I remember my friend Rita, who was a very good student. Suddenly she didn't know what happened, but she started feeling a sudden emptiness in her mind and she mentioned it to all of us hesitantly. She always said, She felt like she would go blank for a few minutes but then when she came back to normal she could not remember exactly what others said or what she said to others.

It was happening to her in college as well as at home as she always felt confused "Why was she here when she thought she should be here or anywhere else?" She was in a strange situation as she would keep staring at her close relatives and friends as if they were complete strangers.

I think initially she felt a little confused and irritated with herself for her habit so while in college she would return home. For a few weeks, she could not figure out why was it happening to her. We could see at times, she would keep staring at us as if trying to remember what she was doing or thinking. Most of the time she could not remember exactly what was going on before it suddenly happened to her!
  
We all thought that she was suffering from some kind of depression but what we did not know memory loss was the reason which she discovered after a few tests by her doctor. We all thought it was one of the common problems but it was not.

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This was worrying as it was increasing and I always wondered what was causing it. I thought it might be alienation or because she suddenly didn't pay attention while she was talking to me. Her memory problem was increasing and we all used to wonder what was her problem but later we came to know that she was suffering from severe memory loss.

We also came to know that whenever she read something, she forgot within a few minutes. She did not remember what she did or when someone told her something important, she didn't do it. When we asked him "Why?", her only response was, "You didn't tell me anything like that."

Within a few months, it started happening more frequently, and her family and all of us were getting a little more worried when we learned she was suffering from amnesia but we didn't know what was causing it. I sometimes thought, "Was it short-term memory loss or a disease like dementia or Alzheimer's?"

I felt embarrassed when she could not even remember my name. Sometimes when she was normal, she said, I felt like "it's on my tongue, but I could not recall what I wanted to say."

I could feel she was stressed, but her forgetfulness was increasing. Later, her father shifted to another city and we lost contact with her. But when I was in her contact I had been trying to understand the reason what could be the reason of her memory loss. But her situation suggested maybe she suffered from her problem due to lack of sleep because she was spending too much time on her studies. I feel this is a common problem engaged in mental overwork, stress, and anxiety.

Later my doubts were confirmed by her father, who met me in Bangalore years later, who said that her overwork was the cause of fatigue, which impaired her memory as her brain's connections slowed down. Her diagnosis report said that her recall facility got seriously impaired because of the overstress the way she spent time on her studies and her lack of rest and sleep. She had no time for other activities which further increased this problem. Her illness was all due to stress and anxiety.

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I sometimes call her father, as I feel embarrassed calling her directly and he says that she is recovering, but her recovery is too slow, so it may take a long time. I feel so upset for her because it's been a long time and she is still not fully fit. When I remember Rita, who was bubbling with fun and joy and what she is going through now reminds me of a strange pink color that surrounds me with a deep feeling of sorrow.

I have started to believe that "The pink ribbon is not only a symbol of the fight against cancer, but all the problems anyone suffers from."

The Reasons and My Conclusion

As her father said stress and lack of sleep were not the only reasons, but her underactive thyroid which did not work properly or at its optimal capacity, led to sleep disorder and depression. The total result was memory loss, and she was still under treatment. Her father also told me that her memory loss treatment and medication will go on for a long time besides the behavior therapy that she was going through to help her recover from memory loss.

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