Central High School nurse battling lupus but soldiering on

Central High School nurse, Kerri-Ann Hamilton, is never short of a smile when she greets you. The minute one of her students needs her, she is ready … walker and all ... to very carefully attend to them.

Forced to put her pain and the discomfort of living with lupus on the back burner, Hamilton soldiers on doing her job. Her daily cycle is the same – pain, struggling to get out of bed, her entire pay cheque going towards ensuring she gets the vital medication she needs to stay alive. It is now more than her salary can handle.

Hamilton has found a friend in Dr Marsha Smalling, principal of Glenmuir High School, lupus patient herself. Smalling sat down with Hamilton as she shared her story with The Gleaner about the huge challenges of living with the dreaded autoimmune disease.

Hamilton revealed that she enjoyed a “powered-up” moment from reading Smalling’s recently released book, Powered Up: Leveraging Six Pillars to Live Out Loud after it was presented to her during Nurses Week by the author. She admitted that it has been a lifeline for her.

“It helped me to see the world through someone else’s perspective and also gave me tips on how to deal with issues I may face regarding the disease,” she shared.

For Smalling, the minute she found out from Central High School’s principal, Stellavit Ingram, during a visit that the school nurse was battling lupus, she immediately told him she wanted to meet her.

“Because a part of my mission in writing Powered Up is to raise the awareness of lupus and to get hope to those who sometimes experience a sense of despondency and the feeling that ‘I cannot live my dream because of this chronic illness’, I wanted to talk to her and let her see that she is not alone,” Smalling shared with The Gleaner.

GRATITUDE

Hamilton expressed gratitude for all the support she has been receiving, not just from Smalling, but her partner, her relatives and school family. She said it is what has seen her going through three surgeries already and facing a fourth, which she must do in June.

She said, after doing her last surgery, she was at home one day, and without even exerting herself, her femur collapsed.

“It has left me in a lot of pain and is the reason why I now use a walker to get around.”

With pain her constant companion, Hamilton is scheduled to do a hip replacement surgery in June. However, the financial challenges she is facing makes her doubt whether she will actually be able to go through with the surgery.

FINANCIAL BURDEN

“I am looking at over $400,000 for one of the surgeries, and that doesn’t include miscellaneous costs such as hospital and other expenses,” she shared.

Hamilton must also take two medications for the year, with the cost of them combined being between $500-700,000.

With that huge financial burden, Hamilton is reaching out to good Samaritans to help her, as she said it is hard dealing with the monthly expenses associated with lupus.

Smalling, in supporting Hamilton, said she can totally relate as, at one point in her life, she, too, saw all her salary going towards medications and medical bills for lupus.

“I know what it feels like to use your entire salary for medication. I am blessed now that I don’t have to do that anymore. I remember when, for several years, I was working just to buy medications. I am thankful for my eldest sister who assisted me. Our experiences are different. Hamilton definitely needs the assistance and I am asking persons to make contributions to the Lupus Foundation for reasons like these. I really hope that persons will reach out to help Nurse Hamilton,” she stressed.

Commenting on her resilience in continuing her job as a nurse in the midst of extreme pain, Hamilton said she has learnt over the years to put her pain aside while she deals with the matter at hand.

“I’m in constant pain, but I have things to do. I need money to buy medication, so I have to put my pain aside and deal with the business of taking care of the students ... then I can go back to my pain,” she shared.

If anyone wants to assist Hamilton, you can send funds to:

Kerri-Ann Hamilton

Scotia Bank

Portmore Branch

Account #: 537621

NCB

Ocho Rios Branch

Account #: 584460342