Mum Nickie Davies was yawning around 100 times a day, but put it down to the after effects of Covid. Eventually, Nickie was given a heartbreaking diagnosis of a deadly disease
A brave woman thought her excessive yawning was simply down to how tired she was feeling, but mum Nickie Davies was enetually diagnosed with a debilitating disease.
Nickie, from West Kirby, Merseyside, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2023. MND, the NHS said, “is an uncommon condition that affects the brain and nerves” and “causes weakness that gets worse over time”. She initially thought that the “aftermath” from when she had Covid was causing her to yawn around 100 times a day. The problem persisted, however, and Nickie noticed she was yawning 10 days after she had the virus.
After speaking with a doctor, Nickie was referred to an ear, nose and throat doctor, who believed she could be suffering from allergies. Nickie kept yawning, however, and began to develop more alarming symptoms. Nickie even started slurring her words. Nickie told Liverpool Echo: “Roll on to July and August, the yawning was still there… I then noticed I was slurring my words but as I’d had a few teeth out and awaiting a partial denture I assumed it was to do with that. Roll on to September and I started with headaches and went to the GP and brought up the yawning and speech which would be affected mainly at night when I was tired. The doctor suggested HRT [hormone replacement therapy] for me and I started on that.”
In July, Nickie was finally diagnosed with MND. There is no cure and it leads to death among the individuals that have it. The NHS said: “There’s no cure for MND, but there are treatments to help reduce the impact it has on a person’s daily life. Some people live with the condition for many years. MND can significantly shorten life expectancy and, unfortunately, eventually leads to death.”
Nickie said: “On July 20, I had my appointment with outpatients at the neuropathy clinic. My name was called and my mum, my partner and I walked into a room with the consultant and two nurses, I knew what the outcome was straight away. I had a brief examination of my strength and was told it was MND. The neurologist said he couldn’t tell me how long I had left as he would be wrong and everyone is different.”
She added: “I felt like I just had to go I couldn’t stay, I felt claustrophobic my worst fears had come true. The lovely nurses took me into another room but I just couldn’t take in anything they were saying, I wanted to go back to not knowing but it was out there I had motor neurone disease.” Nickie was left reeling from the awful news and said she spent the next two weeks crying over the diagnosis and the impact it will have on her and her loved ones. She has a young teenage daughter.
Nickie said: “It made me realise that nothing matters if you have good health. I kept thinking of those times I’d wish for more pay, a better car, to win the lottery and I never thought – I just wish for good health. You just take that for granted.” Now, Nickie says she finds eating a “struggle” but has a positive mindset about her life.
She said: “Eating is a struggle, so I have to watch what I eat because my tongue doesn’t work properly. I can’t move food around easily which could cause choking episodes and drinking is even worse. I get tired very easily and struggle to do the activities that I’ve always loved, but I concentrate on what I can do… I do try and make a joke of my speech as this is what works for me. It’s like a guessing game or charades every time I open my mouth. I have pains in my arms and legs but I push past this.
“I am a great horse lover and have three of my own, I have to rely now on family and friends to help me with them and have a plan in place for when I can no longer drive and see to them.” The brave Merseysider encouraged people to insist on a referral to neurology if they think something could be wrong. She also urged people to make a “bank” of their voice to create a voice most like their own on communication devices. Donations poured in for Nickie on the donations website GoFundMe. A total of £9,000 has been raised towards her £10,000 goals. You can see the page here.
