An unexpected week in hospital

A week in hospital wasn’t quite the mini break that I had planned during the summer holidays, but I guess sometimes that you just have to expect the unexpected. Looking back over the past two months, it was hard to pinpoint a time when I had felt well. I had started off suffering with sciatica, which left me in pain for around 10 days. This eased off thankfully, and was nothing to do with my stay in hospital.

With the sciatica gone, I started with a cough. It was nothing major (or so I thought), and was just a slight irritation. I didn’t feel poorly with it, and as parents we just tend to get on with things don’t we. But the cough continued for weeks, and then I noticed I was getting breathless doing everyday things. Having a shower and drying my hair seemed like hard work, I had to sit down halfway through making the bed, and going up the stairs was getting harder and harder.

I knew something wasn’t right, so a trip to the Doctor and he suspected a chest infection. I was given a course of antibiotics, but halfway through I was getting worse. I had lost my appetite, I was sleeping lots, and becoming more and more breathless. A further trip to the Doctors and I was sent straight to hospital, with a suspected blood clot on the lung.

I was admitted overnight on Sunday 4th August, as I needed my oxygen levels topped up. I was booked in for a C.T. scan the next day, which thankfully ruled out a blood clot on the lung. However, they found some scarring on both lungs, which at the time they couldn’t pinpoint. I was transferred to the Respiratory ward for more tests, and to be honest I was a medical mystery for a few days (trust me lol).  I was on oxygen for 6 whole days, put on steroids and antibiotics, and on my discharge notes I was treated for community acquired pneumonia…. no wonder I had trouble breathing for all that time.

I tried to keep my spirits up as much as I could being in hospital, but of course there were times when I felt incredibly guilty leaving the kids to fend for themselves. Typically Hywel has just started a new job, and whilst his work were lovely, he felt guilty taking too much time off.

On the bright side I had been given my own room with en-suite, I read lots, there was free wifi, the hospital food was actually very good, somebody made your bed for you, and you got 5 hot drinks a day. I was tempted to book myself in until the kids went back to school.

In all seriousness I never thought I would have needed a full week stay in hospital to get me better, and being in hospital makes you appreciate every single member of our NHS. I received the most amazing care from everybody I came into contact with, and I feel very grateful that they could fix me. Our NHS does a wonderful job every single second of every single day, and I thank Whiston Hospital for looking after me.

Thankfully I was still allowed to enjoy our short break to Amsterdam, which was the kind of mini break I had planned for this summer.

 

10 thoughts on “An unexpected week in hospital”

  1. I am glad you are feeling better now and are home. What a worry though.
    It does sound like you had a fab stay in hospital. Free wifi, meals cooked for you and your bed made. It must have been nice having a break. hehehe x

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    • Once I settled into Hospital life I got quite used to it, and the NHS are just amazing in how they look after us when we are poorly. On the mend now which is good news x

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  2. I’m so glad you go to go to Amsterdam, I was so worried about you all week. It’s easy to ignore those niggles when you’re a parent I think, but so important to look after yourself too. I hope you are getting plenty of rest now you are home x

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    • Aw thank you Angela and for all the support whilst I was in there. I don’t think I realised how poorly I was before I got admitted, and yes taking it easy now after Amsterdam x

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    • Oh goodness that must have been hard seeing him so poorly and so young. The NHS were truly amazing in looking after me and making me better. What would we do without them x

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  3. I’m glad you are feeing better and managed to get to Amsterdam. It must have been awful to realise how ill you were and to be unable to manage without oxygen. Thank goodness for the NHS! It sounds like they really looked after you. x

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    • They really did and all the staff work incredibly hard. I felt so guilty though as I didn’t particularly feel ill, just needed oxygen. So glad we managed Amsterdam, and the great thing is we made it work x

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    • I can’t believe I was in for the full week Susan, and yes I was so glad when the DR gave me the all clear for Amsterdam x

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