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A woman who has battled a debilitating illness for more than a decade is celebrating the news she is going to become a mum.
Jessica Taylor-Bearman, from Cliffe Woods on the Hoo Peninsula, has suffered with myalgic encephalomyelitis, known as ME, since 2005 when she was 14.
She experiences severe exhaustion and pain throughout her body – which confined her to a wheelchair.
Jessica Taylor-Bearman talks about her illness
Fast forward to 2017, she has married the love of her life, Samuel, and managed to walk down the aisle without the need of a specially-adapted chair.
Now Jessica, 28, is in the second trimester of her pregnancy and is expecting in August.
She said: “Becoming a mum means everything to me and although it was something I really wanted.
"I didn't think it would happen to me because I was just too poorly for that. So it was elating that it happened but nerve-wracking too.”
It is understood ME sufferers can improve during pregnancy due to the nature of the disease.
Jessica said: “The pregnancy hormone can cause two things to happen.
“Either your body jump starts and starts working like it never used to.
"So, people with multiple sclerosis (MS) have the same thing happen to them and you can make quite a lot of progress in that time.
“But because ME is a reactive disease, you can react to what your body's going through.
"So normally the first three months aren't particularly good - some people then improve and others don't.”
Jessica has encountered several challenges so far, including a hyperemesis and having to stop taking around 20 different drugs.
However, she feels “very lucky that things are improving” and remains positive about the future.
She added: “There have been so many times where I've been told that’s the end.
"I don’t think you can necessarily make something happen the way it's going to happen because I've had friends who have been as severely unwell as I was and they've not made it.
“I think it was five years ago that I sat in a chair for the first time.
"So, although it's small progress every day, it feels quite a lot when you're reminded of where you've come from.”
