Since birth, Olesya Kulikova has been in and out of hospital with myriad health issues.
From pneumonia, bronchial asthma and severe stomach pain, the 27-year-old has had her fair share of ailments.
However, doctors were only able to give him a diagnosis in 2009, when they discovered that his organs were in the wrong place.
Olesya suffers from a rare condition known as situs inversus totalis, an abnormality characterized by mirror inversion of vital organs.
The disease occurs in around one in 10,000 people who are born with the disease – Olesya having gone undiagnosed for 13 years.
It is usually detected by X-rays, CT, MRI or ultrasound.
She said she was 14 when she discovered her heart was on the right side of her body.
Then four years later, at 18, he was told his liver was on the left.
Olesya, from Achinsk, Russia, said she was hospitalized in 2019 with pneumonia when doctors told her her lungs were “mirror-like”.
“Every time I go for a medical exam, I have to explain that my heart is on the right, not on the left like everyone else.
“I have no tattoos, documents or jewelry that might alert doctors if I pass out.
“During electrocardiograms, a test that checks the heart rhythm, [I have to tell] doctors to place the electrodes on the right,” she told NeedToKnow.online.
In 2021, Olesya was diagnosed with Kartagener Syndrome, an inherited condition that causes difficulty moving debris and fluids from the lungs.
Because of this, she says she has had pneumonia four times, suffers from bronchial asthma, shortness of breath and a constant cough.
Fast forward to April this year and Olesya went to hospital with a stomach ache – only later was she told she actually had kidney stones.
In an attempt to control and treat her conditions, Olesya has started going to the gym where she hopes to help her lungs “work properly” and so far she has found breathing easier.
She claims that her condition is an anomaly and because of this, people with the condition who become pregnant are told to get an abortion.
Olesya, who is the only person in her family with the disease, added that she had already met a woman with the same disease, who told her that if the baby survived, he might be born with a disability.
“As doctors rarely encounter this type of scenario, they assumed the baby would die – but she had a healthy baby, which I call Miracle.
“In another case, the child was born with the heart on the right and had a defect, but underwent surgery and now has a perfectly healthy heart.”
Although she does not yet have children, she is now trying to raise awareness regarding the disease so that people feel less alone.
She added: “I admit I was embarrassed to have a situs inversus totalis – but I started blogging and people from all different countries wrote to me.
“Most people often ask regarding my health and many find me by hashtags where I offer support.
“Of course, everyone hopes their children will live happily ever following with this anomaly and I’m confident we can lead normal lives.”
This story originally appeared on The sun and has been reproduced here with permission.
