Poorly!

Dear fellow bloggers and new followers! I haven't blogged for the past two months. I wish that I could tell you that I have been busy and visited many interesting places but the reality is that the only place I've been is within the four walls of this house and the GP's surgery and the hospital! 

You may remember as long ago as February that I had a bad reaction to amoxicillin prescribed by the dentist - a horrible all over rash which lasted for three weeks! I then was O.K. for two days before I started with a bad cough, night sweats and suffering from extreme tiredness. Walking from the bedroom upstairs to the lounge downstairs was physically exhausting. After this had gone on for more than three weeks I knew I had to see the GP. I've commented before as to how hopeless she is and so it proved this time! She diagnosed me as suffering from asthma and prescribed a ventolin inhaler! My GP also took a blood test and said that she would let me know the results in two days time. Two days came and went - no phone call. The OH phoned the surgery on the fifth day and was told by the receptionist that the blood tests were fine!

Nine days later the OH came home from work to find me on the sofa coughing and virtually unable to breathe. He arranged an emergency appointment at the doctor's. Luckily for me I couldn't see my normal GP but saw another GP who told me that my blood tests hadn't been fine - they had shown a problem with my white blood cells and also that they showed that my inflammatory markers were up. He took my pulse and insisted there and then that I had an ECG as my heart was beating way faster that it should have been, my oxygen levels were poor and my blood pressure was low!

The ECG showed that my heart was racing and I was told that I would have to be admitted as an emergency patient to the acute assessment unit of our local hospital. I can tell you I was pretty scared - having only previously been to hospital when I was pregnant with our daughter. That evening I had a chest x-ray which was clear. I was then placed on a heart monitor and given a saline drip. I didn't sleep all night - the heart monitor kept going beep, beep, beep! To make matters worse there was another female in the unit also on a heart monitor so when mine wasn't beeping hers was!

The following day I had a CT scan - where they put iodine in your system and you have to go through a large cylinder (which the staff call "the doughnut"). This showed that my spleen was enlarged which meant that my body was fighting some sort of infection.

Later that day I also had to have an echo sound scan of my heart to check whether there was a problem with my valves or arteries. The other lady that was with me was told straight away that there was no problem with her scan but when I asked about mine - all the nurses said they didn't know, they hadn't seen the report! I spent an anxious 12 hours before I was finally told that my heart scan was O.K. too!

At 11.00 p.m. that evening I was moved from the acute assessment unit to a ward. My bed was next to the nurses station and I couldn't sleep because of the noise, the bright lights, etc. By now my breathing had deteriorated so much that I was on oxygen. The following day I was given antibiotics intravenously. Blood tests were taken which showed no bacterial infection! Despite this for the next four / five days I was given more and more antibiotics! When I asked the nurses and the doctors why they were giving me antibiotics when I didn't have a bacterial infection they just kept shrugging their shoulders and saying it's only for a few more days!

Eventually, on the seventh day of my stay it was decided to stop the intravenous antibiotics but, wait for it and to now give me antibiotics in tablet format! I was also given some gastro-resistant tablets as at times I hadn't been able to keep my food down! Finally, on the eighth day I was told that I could go home - I was discharged with antibiotics and the gastro medication. I took these as prescribed for four days before developing another rash - from head to foot. The emergency doctor who came to the house couldn't believe that I had been discharged with antibiotics when my discharge papers from the hospital said that I probably had a bad viral infection.

I went back to the GP's surgery and another blood test was taken. This apparently showed everything to be fine according to the receptionist!

I was given an Outpatients appointment with a cardioligist. I had to have another echo sound scan of my heart which thankfully again showed that there was nothing wrong with my heart - it was just beating fast to fight off the infection. The Consultant said that more likely than not I had Glandular Fever. Apparently, one of the symptoms of glandular fever is that you have an allergic reaction to all drugs which is why I suffered the reactions that I did! There is no treatment I just have to sit it out!

I am still coughing - although not as much as before. I am still tired but can usually go all day without falling asleep on the sofa - so I suppose I am getting there slowly. It has been three and a half months and I am beginning to get fed up with it all! I can't plan ahead as I don't know how long this is going to last! So there you have it the reason for my absence!

I hope in the next few days to visit some of your blogs. I have a lot of catching up to do!

Yesterday for the first time in three and a half months I managed to get out of the house for a few hours. We went and walked the dogs. I couldn't believe how unfit I had become - I kept having to have a sit down. I think that my road to full recovery is going to take a few more months but hopefully, I'm getting there!

Until next time,

June.