Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
It's been a year since I was ill with pneumonia and septicemia. I'm pleased to report that I'm still very much alive and kicking. I'd like to say I'm 100% fit now but I'm not there yet and doubt I will ever be. Don't get me wrong I've come a long way, but even 52 weeks later there are times when l seem to be taking one step forwards and three backwards. My breathing still causes me problems when it's cold, if I walk more than half a mile, when I walk uphill etc. I can also become breathless for no apparent reason. When I was recovering I hoped I would feel better in six weeks, then it became three months, then six months. Now I don't give myself a time limit because I have come to realise that this is it, this it what it will always be like. It doesn't matter if it's a year or ten, as far as my lungs go this will be as good as it gets. I know I'm lucky, People go through far worse but I feel like my body has let me down. I was always fit and healthy, I had never stayed in hospital before so where did it all go so wrong?
Late October 2010 I felt unwell with a bad cold. I went to my GP who examined me and said that I had pneumonia. She prescribed antibiotics and wanted to admit me to hospital but I said no. Later that day back at home I took a turn for the worse. A paramedic was quickly dispatched. She did an ECG which was ok but my temperature was 107°. I was given some oxygen and taken to the hospital.
I had seven hours of tests and the final verdict was that I didn't have pneumonia but I did have a virus and an upper respiratory infection. I was sent home. Thirty six hours later I could hardly breathe and my lips were turning blue. My husband rang for an ambulance and I was back in hospital gasping for breath and drifting in and out of consciousness. I was hooked up to several antibiotic drips including one so powerful that it was like liquid demostos! My liver and kidneys began to shut down, it was touch and go.
After three days in ITU it transpired I did have pneumonia and also septicemia. I was in agony and that wasn't the only complication, I also developed phlebitis and my left arm swelled to three times its normal size, I couldn't have drips in my right arm as all the veins had collapsed. Somehow I found the strength to hang on and gradually began to improve. Nine days after being admitted I was well enough to be discharged.
For the first two weeks my legs would barely support me, my husband had to do everything for me, it was agony to even fill a kettle or brush my teeth. Despite hardly leaving the house for nearly three months because of the risk of secondary infections, I developed flu like symptoms. I went back to my GP who discovered I still had crackling on my left lung so therefore still had the pneumonia. She prescribed antibiotics again but unfortunately they made me so violently sick I had to stop taking them after three days even though I was taking anti-sickness pills. I had no appetite and what little I did eat didn't stay down for long.
Now there are days when I feel so exhausted I can hardly get out of bed, although thankfully they seem to be getting fewer. I may have three good weeks and one bad. My lung capacity is never going to be as good as it was, facing that reality has been hard. People have asked me what it was like to nearly die, that's still something I can't get my head around. There are times when I feel like it was all a dream or that it happened to someone else. I still have nightmares like a kind of post traumatic stress syndrome, I was warned I would but I'm still here and still fighting. I'm not having a pity party, I don't want people to feel sorry for me, I'm turning it into something positive and helping others who are going through or have been in a similar situation. I was given no information about what to expect when I left hospital and what the after effects would be. I found support groups and help by research and contacting people. Dr Google can be a dangerous thing, I read many horror stories on my quest for better info so if you are or know someone who is going through or has been through something similar, please feel free to get in touch.
Well Jeane....
a very succinct and vivid description of your acute illness...it seems your body and mind has the ability to run on several levels....
I always think it is comforting to have someone close to you, to be able to help with everyday needs and wants, your husband must have been very anxious.
It will take a long time for your body to recover from such trauma....
Patience, awareness and time will prevail.....Good luck with your progress
Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
Thank you Charlie, yes I am lucky enough to have a great husband and friends / family. Ah yes patience, that I am not always so good with but it's something else I have to learn!
Jeanne, it is hard to realise it is a whole year since that dreadful time. I am glad you are improving but can empathise with the frustration of realising things have changed. It is challenging to move on from that "when I'm all better" to "as I improve".........
Jeanne, my thoughts, and I am sure the thoughts of many people on here, are with you in your struggle. You are still here, and we are still with you. It matters that you share those things - you make a difference.
Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
Thank you Bern, they say it's good to talk and share. It's not something I've always been great at myself. I tend to just get on with things, I've always been fiercely independent and prefer to help others and as for me asking for help....well that rarely happened! It's been a huge learning curve but actually a good one.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
rather a harrowing read, we can only empathise from a distance.
i noticed that bit near the end about googling - not always a good idea, there are so many opinions on there that it is difficult to differentiate between knowledge and opinion.
having said that thanks for updating us jeane and keep fighting.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
jeane
glad to hear your feeling a little better, and improving.
would it be possible to e mail when you get 5 mins
ta
keith
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
Jeane, the very best advice I can give you is to make sure you are warmly dressed at all times, now that Winter is on us.
I always prevent a Winter horror by dressing warmly, the secret is to prevent it before it comes on, and that means warm clothing, and no wet hair in cold rooms and the like (for example after washing one's hair).
Make sure you make warmth your top priority
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
Jeane, thank you for sharing the good news of your steady progress. It, plainly, will take time to regain full lunge function, but such improvement is likely.
I spent this summer watching my son undergo much the same trial as you describe and I have high hopes for his return to near full health.
I have heard that a Heron visiting the garden is a very good sign. Her-on! Jeane.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,894
Is it really a year time goes so fast, keep fighting
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
A harrowing story but with a (relatively) happy ending - thankfully.
Pneumonia and Pleurisy are not fun to have (as I know), but you have done remarkebly well Jeane and well done for the mental strength and and well done Les.
Glad you're well again and able to tell the tale.
Roger
Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
Howard that was exactly my point, having no information I turned to the internet and read a lot, most of it made me feel worse; I'd hate anyone to have to do that. I eventually discovered the wonderful Meningitis and Septicemia Foundation:
http://www.meningitis.org/ which helped me a lot.
Will do Keith.
Alexander, thank you I feel the cold much more now so I do keep extra warm.
Tom, I am so pleased to hear your son is doing great, long may that continue. Speaking of the Heron, he was back this morning!
Bless you Roger; I know you recently had pneumonia, glad you are doing well.
Jeane, I can empathise because I too have had septicaemia (and peritonitis) and spent a total of five weeks in hospital after 8 days in intensive care. I had an operation and lost a kidney. That was 4 years ago and recovery has been slow. I am sure that every day will find you feeling a little bit better although sometimes there can be setbacks. Perhaps you may never feel quite as you did before but there is a great deal to be said for still living when you almost died. My life has been altered beyond recognition but there are compensations.
I think you have done a really good thing in writing it all down, because you have, in a way, preserved your experience for history and now you can move on. I have often found that writing down a bad experience in full then putting it away somewhere safe enables you to stop thinking about it.
I will put you into my healing prayers and wish you well.
Guest 660- Registered: 14 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,205
Jeane what a dreadful story but at least as you say you are still with us,I know you have always been a fighter and so it proved,well done
If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
Gosh Diana, what an awful time you had, but you are a wonderful example of moving forwards and getting on with life. I was never very good at sharing things like this but as you have said, writing it down does help and that in turn made me talk to people about it and it's become something positive out of the negative. Thank you, I wish you all the best - onwards and upwards!
JHG thanks, Yes you don't get rid of me that easily
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
A very poignant story there about your illness Jeane, I'm so pleased that all is going reasonably well for you now. Like you I am not very good at sharing these kind of things but reading your story reminded me that it is now a year since I myself became very ill. At the same time I lost my dear Mam and was too sick to go to her funeral. Pleased to say I am heaps better now but like your goodself I'm still not 100% fit, although I don't think I will ever be back to form but I am just grateful to be better.
Try to keep as warm as possible and no doubt your positivity will help you a great deal along the way
Guest 657- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,037
Thanks Colette, I do remember we were ill and the same time and you also endured the sad loss of your Mum, RIP. I am pleased you are doing well and long may that continue - they can't keep us down for long!
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
As most of you know our son died of Septicaemia,and that is why we set up the Kent Splenectomy Trust,which is still running to this day, our fact sheets go out all round the world He was only 20years old and very fit.About this time of the year I do put out apost both on the Doverforum,and the Doverlocals about the facts of both the spleen and Septicaemia, and what to look for and what to do. I will be doing that again soon. But you can log into the Kent Spenectomy Trust,it will tell you all our details.thank you..
Guest 663- Registered: 20 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,136
Crumbs Jeane that certianly sounds as though you had a rough time, glad to hear you are now well no the mend
Alec Sheldon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 18 Aug 2008
- Posts: 1,037
Jeanne, having read your first post my ailments pale into insignificance. Good to see that you are feeling better. Keep warm.