It was a red letter day when I was diagnosed!

Michael originally trained and worked as a teacher but has been an IT consultant for over 25 years. He was diagnosed with Haemochromatosis (HH) in August 2008. He says it was a red letter day for him as he finally knew what was wrong with him! In college he played a lot of both football and hurling at his college in Cork. He would come home from school and have a nap before heading out to play another game.  He thinks that maybe the iron helped him at this stage but he does remember chronic tiredness in his early twenties.

As time moved on he lived abroad. The tiredness was always there. As he moved into his thirties he felt very lethargic and chronically fatigued.He visited his GP who put him on iron tablets. After three years he started to develop soreness in his knuckles. His dad had just been diagnosed with Haemochromatosis. His sister had also been tested and had HH. Michael who is from a family of ten then decided it was time for him to be tested and was very relieved to know that there was a reason for his symptoms. His iron levels were over a thousand.  He attends St James’s Hospital  for venesection and has  been very appreciative of the great treatment he has received  from  the  brilliant nurses there. Michael is passionate about highlighting the importance of early diagnosis of HH.