I’m back! For now at least...
Firstly, apologies for missing blogs etc however I’ve been poorly. I’ve not been feeling well for about a week and over the weekend started to feel quite ill. I went to work on the Monday morning, walked up two floors and felt so ill I was sick. I saw my GP just after 2pm, and by 3.30pm I was in a hospital bed. I got out late Thursday afternoon. Apparently I’ve had a viral illness, made worse by a rare reaction to a very popular antacid whereby my body has stopped producing blood platelets. Not a good idea! Platelets help the body to stop bleeding so are pretty important.

At first they thought I’d had a heart attack – don’t know why they keep thinking that! Then it was thought it was meningitis – I had a mean headache, an awful rash, and my neck was severely painful though I declined the needle in the back until all other diagnosis had been explored, then they thought maybe it was a bad chest infection – an X-ray ruled that out. Meanwhile my temperature had spiked to 39.7C so they pumped me full of antibiotics and took blood tests – that’s where they noticed that my platelet levels were very low. I’ve had so much blood taken that I’ve actually lost count of how many times they took it.

My levels haven’t risen yet though they let me come home on the understanding that I’m very careful not to cut myself or fall, and if I start to bleed, I have to call an ambulance. My poor hands are practically black from bruising where they took the blood – they could barely get any out from anywhere else. I swear my body sees a needle and my veins go into hiding lol.

I have to go back to hospital on Tuesday and have more blood tests and I have to wait there for the results. If my platelet levels aren’t any better then they’ll keep me there and start to explore why I’m not producing them anymore. Fingers crossed...

I spent my first night on a trolley bed, and although it wasn’t very comfortable, I couldn’t believe how some people were complaining. 2 people were so angry that there were no ‘real’ beds that they booked themselves out. At about 1am a man was brought in and he spent the rest of the night sat in an armchair as there were no beds at all; he didn’t complain once. Then there’s the joke about the food. Seriously, when you consider how many people they have to feed, and in a short time, then it wasn’t that bad and some meals were pretty good. For the first 2 days I chose ‘soft’ options because my jaw was so painful I could barely open my mouth. Every muscle hurt too, though by then I was in a real ward in a real bed so that was better. On the plus side; no cooking or washing up for 4 days! What’s to complain about? Lol

All the nurses and doctors were so nice and they looked after me very well. I think the profession comes in for a lot of ‘stick’ though I had no complaints. Having said that, I seriously hope that I won’t need to stay in again after Tuesday’s tests but if I disappear again, you’ll know why...

Today (Friday) it’s my son’s 18th and we were both so glad that I was home for that. I’d already bought balloons and a banner and put them up late on Thursday though blowing up 10 balloons was seriously hard work for me. He smiled when he saw them. I’ve bought a Birthday cake and I’m making us a steak dinner later on as a special treat. I have to say, he’s been so good while I was in hospital; he’s kept the house clean, washed up his dishes, and looked after the dog well, and he text me every day to see how I was. I can’t fault him. He’s at a Leaver’s Ceremony today as apart from exams, it’s his last day of school. He’s making me feel old! Lol

My friend visited me 3 times in hospital and the nurses made such a fuss of his guide dog; the dog loved it! He even did some laundry for me because my one sister is poorly, and the other was working.

Everyone has looked after me so well, and I feel so grateful for that. Sorry for the long blog, I’ll keep the next one a bit shorter :)