BRAVE actress Jess Impiazzi wept as she told partner Jermaine Pennant she feared she was dying.
For months her hair had been falling out, she had developed a strange rash and, on one terrifying occasion, she coughed up blood.
Terrified Jess, 34, broke down in tears to ex-footballer Jermaine, sobbing: “I think I might be dying.”
She told the Sun on Sunday: “My body was just completely failing me and I couldn’t get any answers.
“I was tired all the time, aching all over and then this angry rash appeared on my chest and face.
“One day I started coughing up blood, which was incredibly scary. I thought it was stomach cancer.
“Then I started panicking that it was multiple autoimmune.
“We looked it up and the life expectancy was six years. We both sat there and I burst out crying. Jermaine also got really upset.”
Finally, in July, Jess was told she was suffering from lupus, a serious but less dangerous autoimmune condition, in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissue and organs.
Jess’s crippling symptoms started in January, one month after she had her breast implants replaced when one of them ruptured.
She had them put in when she was an insecure 18-year-old but now fears that her condition could be linked to her latest boob surgery.
Jess said: “I know there is a lot of controversy around breast implant illness but I was healthy before this rupture.
“I had the new ones put in and my health has been dropping until every bodily function has been attacked by my own system.
“The one thing that’s changed is my breasts.
“I don’t want it to be my boobs — they cost money and I love them.
“I was very insecure about my body when I was younger and was often teased at school because I had no boobs.”
Jess has now set a date to have her breast implants removed and is being supported every step of the way by TalkSport pundit Jermaine, 40.
She said: “My consultant said that there is a link between silicone and autoimmune diseases. Why else would my body start attacking itself?
“I’m not prepared for any more of my body to go down. Living like this is not a life. It’s hard.
“My whole body is attacking every healthy system. My fertility, my eyesight, my brain fog, my digestive system — everything. My fingers, my toes, my neck.
“My muscles just start to spasm, I’ll get this lump in my neck and I can’t do anything.
“I’m going to lose my boobs and my hair is falling out. What next?”
Former Liverpool and Birmingham City winger Jermaine gave up alcohol completely this summer to support Jess in her health battle.
“Jermaine and I have already been through so much together,” she said.
“He’s gone teetotal. He’s not had a drink since June.
“We just want to get healthy and eventually try for a family but obviously that’s all on hold at the moment because of the lupus.
“I said to Jermaine, ‘How will you feel when I have the implants taken out?’ He joked, ‘Luckily, I’m a bum man’.
“He’s been incredible throughout all this, and it’s just brought us even closer, but I’ve really struggled. I’m keeping a gratitude journal, but it’s been so tough.”
Jess discovered in March that she has a shortage of eggs in her ovaries, making it much harder for her to get pregnant and setting her on track for an early menopause.
So she underwent her first round of IVF a month later, only to have that derailed by the lupus diagnosis.
“We had to do it quickly because we were told it wasn’t looking good,” she explained.
“We got to the end of the IVF, and one was a dud and one fertilised, so we put that in, but sadly it failed.
“We’ve now had to put our plans for a family on hold.
“I was getting all these symptoms like bloating and severe digestive issues — my whole system was not working.
“It would flare up maybe two to three times a week, to the point where I couldn’t even swallow my own spittle because it was so painful.
“My GP gave me some medicine to treat heartburn and indigestion, which didn’t do anything to help. I’d be in agony.
“Other things were happening too. My eyesight was getting worse, as was my tiredness.
“I’ve got a healthy lifestyle, I don’t drink or smoke, I eat well. I’m someone that usually runs 5ks.
“I wear glasses for driving but my eyesight became so bad that I couldn’t see anything in the distance.
“At the end of May I noticed that my fingers would swell up and I’d often wake up with swollen, bloodshot eyes.
“My glands were up, and I couldn’t move my knees. I was in constant pain all the time.
“You feel like you’ve been hit by a bus. The rash is on my neck and face, and spread into my hairline.
“I’ve got thick hair but it’s been upsetting watching it fall out.”
Luckily Jess has a friend who is a surgeon, who advised her to go back to her GP and insist on being tested for lupus.
She said: “While I was waiting for my test results I felt so low. It’s really hard for me, I’ve spent most of my life looking after everyone else.”
Jess has undoubtedly had more than her fair share of problems.
Her mum Debbie went blind when Jess was in her teens, and her dad Colin died last year of lung cancer aged 70.
In January, Jermaine, who appeared in Celebrity Big Brother, was made bankrupt with debts of more than £1million to the taxman, mortgage and utility companies.
All these things, Jess admits, combined with her scary symptoms to make her feel “hopeless”. Now she says: “I just felt blessed to finally have a diagnosis.
“Once you know what’s wrong, you can start a course of treatment.”
Jess was put on strong steroids usually used to treat cancer patients.
At first the medication helped but when the dosage was reduced she had one of the worst “flare-ups” she’s ever experienced.
She said: “The first week of steroids I had brain fog. It’s almost like you’re not here.
“I was teary and depressed and questioning life. It was scary, but the steroids helped with the pain and I could move my joints again.
“Then they told me to drop a tablet, which I did, but I woke up and I couldn’t move. I was in so much pain and it was like my neck was locked.
“I couldn’t cry but had these tears rolling down my face. I had to just lie there until Jermaine woke up.
“He then had to hoist me up, and I had to use my hands to try to move my legs round and slithered out of bed to go to the toilet.
“I was in bed for days. All he could do was bring me paracetamol and sandwiches in bed, and sit with me.
“I’m now back on the higher dose and at my last consultant appointment I was put on more drugs. The implants will be removed in November, which I will pay for privately.”
Jess, who appeared in J K Rowling’s BBC One detective drama Strike: Troubled Blood earlier this year, can’t wait to see the back of 2023.
She said: “It’s been hell. I was so excited for Strike to come out. I’d worked my butt off, but then I lost my health.
“But there is no more wallowing now. I’m doing little things each morning that make me feel better, like putting my make-up on. I’ve spent so much time just sat in my tracksuit bottoms.
“I’m really hoping that once my boob implants are out I’ll start to feel better.
“All I can do is get the rest of this year out of the way and look forward to 2024.”
LUPUS is a chronic autoimmune disorder that can be very debilitating, writes consultant rheumatologist Dr Giovanni Sanna.
It causes the body to produce lots of antibodies that can attack the patient’s own body.
It mainly affects women in their twenties and thirties – 90 per cent of sufferers are female.
The condition can cause a wide range of complaints, most commonly feeling extremely fatigued, with severe flu-like symptoms.
But it can also affect joints, cause serious rashes and skin problems, and even more seriously, affect the internal organs, including the kidneys and brain and central nervous system.
It’s most commonly treated by a form of steroid, but it’s very unlikely that the condition will ever disappear.
The aim with treatment is to reduce and manage the symptoms it causes.
Patients with lupus have to manage their condition very carefully, as there are lots of things that can cause flare-ups.
Lupus sufferers who become pregnant have to be very carefully monitored.
With proper care, lupus doesn’t usually mean that a patient can’t have a successful pregnancy, but it can cause flare-ups and could be dangerous if not managed properly.
Even sunbathing can cause the condition to worsen.
There has been a lot of research into what causes lupus but medics are still not sure.
Studies have been carried out into a variation of lupus possibly being linked to breast implants.
The results so far are inconclusive but investigations are ongoing.
