“It was this horrible reality that it wasn’t going to work,” says Johanna. “I was now reacting strongly to my husband. Before this I had reacted to my parents, to many, many other people, but it was horrific when it became Scott.”

6. Mast Cell Disease

The couple were terrified when they realized that they may not be able to share their life together physically. It was only when the doctors finally found a diagnosis for Johanna that it registered that their lives would be truly changed forever. Three years after the schoolteacher’s initial symptoms, the doctor told them that Johanna was suffering from Mast Cell Disease. Mast Cell Disease is an immunological condition in which the cells that are meant to protect someone from outside threats mutate and are triggered more often. Eventually they start to attack the sufferer’s body instead.