Latest news with #Kezia
Daily Mirror
26-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
'I fell down in my 20s and got a devastating diagnosis I hid for a decade'
Kezia told as few people as possible about her illness, in the hope that would mean it wasn't real A woman who suddenly fell down in her 20s hid the diagnosis from everyone for the next 10 years. The first sign that something was wrong with Kezia Kecibas was the sudden fall. Kezia said: "I was walking across the room and just collapsed out of nowhere, I hadn't tripped. I hadn't fainted. My body just gave way underneath me. I thought maybe I was overtired. I was in my early twenties, was really healthy but I just started falling over nothing. My eyesight started blurring and I was just dropping things." The unexplained fall would become the first symptom of Multiple Sclerosis – a condition that Kezia, from Cambridge, went on to hide from nearly everyone for over a decade. "An MRI scan revealed what was going on. As soon as I heard 'MS' I thought of a friend's mum who went from walking into a wheelchair pretty quickly, and then after just a few years died. I couldn't believe it. I was devastated." Kezia said. The mum-of-two, now 44, buried her head in the sand and threw herself into work. "Not telling people was my way of coping. I thought - if I didn't tell them, the MS didn't exist. I didn't tell clients, I didn't tell most of my friends – I just carried on," she said. "I was doing injections and managing pain behind closed doors, but I kept up appearances. I had a theatre degree, and I guess I really used it. I got good at pretending I was fine. "I had a retractable stick that I would hide in a shopping bag in town. If I bumped into someone I knew, I would just lean against the wall. I didn't want my clients to know - so I would pretend I had cramp or something." Diagnosed in May 2007, aged just 25 and with a small child at home, Kezia says her instinct was to keep going no matter what. "I thought I could manage it myself. I'd work, look after my son, and then collapse in a heap afterwards. I didn't want people to see me as weak." But Kezia's condition worsened and by 2018 she was exhausted, struggled to walk with two sticks and the NHS had said there was nothing more they could do for her. Seeing a future in a wheelchair was inevitable, she tried one last ditch attempt; stem cell therapy in Russia. But it cost £38,000 and as a single mother, the cash wasn't available. It wasn't until a friend bluntly told her she'd need to go public to crowdfund the cash that things began to change. "She said, 'If you need money, people need to know what you're going through'. So I started telling people and posting online, and I was blown away – I had donations coming in from all over the world. I was so lucky." In 2019, she flew to Moscow for HSCT (haematopoietic stem cell transplantation), a treatment hard to find on the NHS. "It involved chemotherapy and isolation – it was brutal – but it gave me hope. I started to feel my energy coming back. The fatigue dropped off. I could cook again, and my kids even said my food tasted better," she said. Since then, Kezia has stayed well, managing her condition carefully, using what's known as 'spoon theory' to ration her energy into measured amounts. "I only have a limited number of spoons a day – so if I go food shopping, I don't see clients. It's all about balancing things." One unlikely source of relief has been oxygen therapy. "It's a hyperbaric chamber at the MS Therapy Centre in Leicestershire. You sit with a mask on and breathe pure oxygen," she explains. "I didn't think it was doing much until I went away for two weeks and couldn't access it – I felt like I'd been hit by a bus. The difference was incredible." She uses the centre every week, and she says it has been life-changing. Today, Kezia uses a walking stick, a scooter, or a wheelchair depending on the situation – but she doesn't let the condition stop her. "I used to be very anti-driving, now I drive everywhere. I plan ahead. I still get tired, but I'm living again." Kezia now takes on as many adventures as she can to ensure she is making the most of life. "One of my best friends once said, 'I'm glad you got MS,' and I thought that was an awful thing to say. But she meant it's made us do more. We've gone parasailing, we've slept under the blue whale at the Natural History Museum, we've been to paint parties in Magaluf." She added: "People think I'm drunk when I can't walk – but it's just because I've been dancing too hard." Now, she says, life is too precious to waste. 'People moan about getting older – but I love birthdays. That's more time to do fun stuff. People say I'm always on holiday – well, yes, because I love it. "MS a pain in the bum – but it's also a blessing. I don't take anything for granted. I do as much as I can. And I stay positive – because if you keep your head up, the ride is a lot easier."
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
What is 'pregnancy face'? Mothers reveal their VERY different faces before and after having babies
Pregnancy is one of the most beautiful transformations a woman can experience, at least that's what expectant mother's are told. The female body transforms into a baby growing safehouse - expanding, stretching and adjusting to accommodate for the new life germinating inside it. While some tout the benefits of the famous 'pregnancy' glow, it seems the glean of motherhood is not a universal one, as women from all over the world are now describing how their faces ballooned during gestation. Dubbing the term 'pregnancy face', thousands of women on social media have shared their 'before' and 'after' photographs of becoming mothers, in videos poking fun at their own transformations. Women suffering with the affliction complain of having extra pigmentation, puffy eyes, loss of definition in their face, and enlarged noses. One woman, Kezia from UK, shared a clip of how her changing face left her 'humbled' during the pregnancy of her first baby. The mother, who welcomed her baby last year, shared a clip of her face before she fell pregnant, appearing happy and confident as she posed glamorously for videos. Then, sharing her photos of her face at 37 weeks pregnant, Kezia appeared notably different, with a rosier complexion and puffier cheeks. Captioning the clip, which racked up 13,000 views, she described having developed a 'fat face' in the latter stages of her pregnancy. She's not the only mother on social media who has noticed their appearance as sympathising mothers littered the comments with similar woes, with one begging to know if it 'went away' while another admitted they'd developed a 'double chin'. According to doctors, much of what those online describe is a result of water retention, a commonly reported side-effect among expectant mothers. The NHS website cites swelling as typically occurring in pregnant women, particularly in lower parts of the body such as the legs, ankles and feet. Effects can appear particularly pronounced 'if the weather is hot or you have been standing a lot.' 'Swelling is caused by your body holding more water than usual when you're pregnant,' the website reads. Healthcare providers suggest remedying symptoms by avoiding standing for long periods of time, and resting with feet up as much as possible. Drinking water, though seemingly counter-productive, can also reduce water retention, the NHS advises. Another Australian TikToker, Tealla Anderson, revealed her changing appearance while carrying her baby. 'I love watching the swelling get progressively worse in each photo,' she captioned the video, which showed her face having grown puffier as she advanced through the trimesters. 'Here I am,' she said showing her appearance on the second day of her four day labour. For Tealla though, symptoms of water retention were further exacerbated by pre-eclampsia, a serious condition characterised by high blood pressure and having protein in the urine. The condition can prove fatal if not properly treated. 'I was 100kg here, however at this point I did not know I had pre-eclampsia so the swelling was so not! Just bad luck,' she wrote. Nevertheless, she said she felt 'so beautiful' and was 'honestly obsessed with myself at this stage'. 'Even now I look back at my birth video and I'm like, damn, her skin was clear and the feminine energy was high,' the new mother added. The condition can worsen what some mothers are calling 'pregnancy face', since pre-eclampsia can increase the risk of damaged blood vessels, according to Damaged vessels, which can be caused by high-blood pressure, allow more water to leak into and stay in the tissue which can prevent it from passing through the kidneys to be excreted. Changes to hormones during pregnancy can also bring out skin conditions including acne, puffiness, dark spots, sensitivity or redness, say experts at Simple Skincare. The phenomenon has been felt by hundreds on the app, with searches for 'pregnancy face' churning out a plethora of commiserating mothers. Among them, Dave Mart, who accumulated 5 million views on a clip sharing her facial transformation during pregnancy. Much like others who weathered the changes, the TikToker shared clips and pictures before falling pregnant and during, where she her face was visibly different. Sand also shared her experience having 'pregnancy face' on TikTok, posting a picture before she fell pregnant and another when she was in the final months of gestation. Mother to 'two beautiful autistic children', Sand shared the pictures on the app, where she amassed 87,700 views on the video. Poking fun at her own transformation, the British mother wrote, 'My face won't change that much when I'm pregnant', next to a photo of her looking slender and beaming at the camera. The next picture showed her while pregnant, looking markedly different. Making light of the changes, she said: 'It's the nose for me'. Poking fun at her own transformation, the British mother wrote, 'My face won't change that much when I'm pregnant', next to a photo of her looking slender and beaming at the camera Commenters shared in the experience, with one writing, 'my nose did this too! Why?', and another admitting their face underwent such a dramatic change their 'facial recognition on my phone stopped working'. Mothers on TikTok have previously complained about having 'pregnancy nose', having see their features balloon while carrying their babies. One, Gabriela Garrido, from Hackney, east London, was shocked to discover that her nose grew by a third by the time she reached the nine-month mark. Sharing the tale of her nose expansion on the app, Gabriela said her nose still 'isn't the same', even after giving birth, though it has started to deflate slowly. The post, captioned 'one of the many joys of pregnancy', shows Gabriela's nose pre-pregnancy compared to now, adding that it looked a lot 'wider and more round' at 37 weeks pregnant. 'My nose was wider and more round. It filled up as if someone pumped it like a balloon,' she said. 'I don't know if it doubled in size but maybe by one third. It was like Pinocchio when his nose grows out. 'It was around six months into my pregnancy, I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. I felt my face just looked a bit more swollen. 'In that last month I thought my nose definitely looked different, especially after comparing it to old pictures. 'Pregnancy nose' is believed to result from an increase in hormones, which leads to the dilation of blood vessels and creates more blood flow to certain areas of the body. This increase in size is usually only temporary and most women find their noses return to their normal size a few weeks after delivery - however it has led to the condition being compared to cartoon character Pinocchio on TikTok.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Universal Names Former eOne Exec Kezia Williams as New U.K. Head
Kezia Williams is set to join Universal Pictures International as its managing director for the U.K. and Ireland. Williams will report to Paul Higginson, executive Vice President, EMEA for Universal Pictures International and will manage day-to-day operations in the territory when she joins at the end of February. She replaces former Universal Pictures UK MD Rob Huber, who left the company at the end of 2024. More from Variety Comcast Chief on TV Division's Future and Cable Channel Spinoff: 'We're Running a Broadcast-Plus-Streaming Strategy' Comcast's Q4 Profit Boosted by 'Wicked,' Peacock 'Suits LA' Trailer: 'Suits' Returns 6 Years After Finale in West Coast Spinoff Starring Stephen Amell With more than 20 years of experience in distribution and marketing, Kezia was most recently at Entertainment One, initially as head of marketing & distribution and then as managing director, overseeing the company's U.K. film business and leading integrated, event-driven campaigns to record-breaking results, including '1917,' 'The BFG,' 'The Girl on the Train' and 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.' This appointment marks Williams return to Universal, having previously spent five years on the U.K. Marketing team, where she contributed to the successful launch of 'Despicable Me' in 2010 before serving as deputy marketing director for Warner Bros U.K. for more than three years. 'I am confident that Kezia will be an invaluable leader for our UK and Ireland teams, bringing fresh approaches backed by decades of experience to garner operational excellence,' said Higginson. 'Her leadership, coupled with the exceptional talent and management in place in the UK and across the region, will further our positioning in the market as we gear up for our full slate of films for 2025 and beyond.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Grammy Predictions, From Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar: Who Will Win? Who Should Win? What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025
