Tweet
This is a message to say "Hi" and thank everyone for their kind words and good wishes following my recent admission to hospital.
Some of you will know what happened. For those of you who don't, this is what happened -
About 3.00 am on Sunday 25 November 2012, I woke up feeling nauseous. I was sick and noticed it was the colour of coffee grounds. my first thought was, "What have I eaten that's that colour?" I went back to bed and, an hour later, I woke up feeling nauseous again. This time, I was sick and fresh red blood came up. Having done first aid to advanced level in the past, I knew something was seriously wrong, especially when my breathing became laboured.
I rang South Western Ambulance Service (my local ambulance service) and they were at my home within five minutes of ringing them. I had a pulse oximeter clipped to a finger and was wired to a portable ECG machine. When I heard the two paramedics say, "Pulse is 147," and "Abnormal sinus rhythm," I knew then things were taking a turn for the worse.
As I was being assisted out to the ambulance, I became very dizzy. Once inside the ambulance, I was connected up to the onboard monitoring system and driven to Derriford Hospital. By the time I arrived at A& E, my pulse had gone up to 158 and that's when the fun and games began. My pulse shot up to 167 and I kept feeling very dizzy. I spent a lot of time with the trolley tipped so my feet were above the level of my head.
Once the team in A & E had got me stabilised, I was transferred to the Medical Assessment Unit. A few hours later, a consultant came round and said to me, "It's like this Mr Bluebottle. You've lost a lot of blood and we may have to give you a blood transfusion." Now I know what Labman means when he says that things like that make your underwear change colour.
In the evening, I was transferred to a gastro-enterology ward and, a couple of days later, underwent an endoscopy, which reveal a duodenal ulcer, a hiatus hernia I didn't know I had and gastritis, which had resulted in burning to the lining of my stomach from the acid.
I was eventually discharged home on Wednesday 28 November 2012 with strict instructions to take things easy for the timebeing, take some very strong antibiotics to deal with the ulcer and a drug called Omeprazole, which I have to take for the rest of my life, to ensure the acid in my stomach doesn't become too concentrated again.
However, at 4.0 am, on Monday 3 December 2012, I was on my way back to A & E again with abdominal pain and a pulse of 140. Luckily, the doctor on duty couldn't find anything sinister, but advised me I was anaemic from the blood loss.
I have to take things very easy for the timebeing and, although I may post from time to time, it will be sometime before I am posting as I normally do.
Thank you, once again, everyone, for your kind words and special thanks to South Western Ambulance Service and the staff at Derriford Hospital.
Bluebottle
Some of you will know what happened. For those of you who don't, this is what happened -
About 3.00 am on Sunday 25 November 2012, I woke up feeling nauseous. I was sick and noticed it was the colour of coffee grounds. my first thought was, "What have I eaten that's that colour?" I went back to bed and, an hour later, I woke up feeling nauseous again. This time, I was sick and fresh red blood came up. Having done first aid to advanced level in the past, I knew something was seriously wrong, especially when my breathing became laboured.
I rang South Western Ambulance Service (my local ambulance service) and they were at my home within five minutes of ringing them. I had a pulse oximeter clipped to a finger and was wired to a portable ECG machine. When I heard the two paramedics say, "Pulse is 147," and "Abnormal sinus rhythm," I knew then things were taking a turn for the worse.
As I was being assisted out to the ambulance, I became very dizzy. Once inside the ambulance, I was connected up to the onboard monitoring system and driven to Derriford Hospital. By the time I arrived at A& E, my pulse had gone up to 158 and that's when the fun and games began. My pulse shot up to 167 and I kept feeling very dizzy. I spent a lot of time with the trolley tipped so my feet were above the level of my head.
Once the team in A & E had got me stabilised, I was transferred to the Medical Assessment Unit. A few hours later, a consultant came round and said to me, "It's like this Mr Bluebottle. You've lost a lot of blood and we may have to give you a blood transfusion." Now I know what Labman means when he says that things like that make your underwear change colour.
In the evening, I was transferred to a gastro-enterology ward and, a couple of days later, underwent an endoscopy, which reveal a duodenal ulcer, a hiatus hernia I didn't know I had and gastritis, which had resulted in burning to the lining of my stomach from the acid.
I was eventually discharged home on Wednesday 28 November 2012 with strict instructions to take things easy for the timebeing, take some very strong antibiotics to deal with the ulcer and a drug called Omeprazole, which I have to take for the rest of my life, to ensure the acid in my stomach doesn't become too concentrated again.
However, at 4.0 am, on Monday 3 December 2012, I was on my way back to A & E again with abdominal pain and a pulse of 140. Luckily, the doctor on duty couldn't find anything sinister, but advised me I was anaemic from the blood loss.
I have to take things very easy for the timebeing and, although I may post from time to time, it will be sometime before I am posting as I normally do.
Thank you, once again, everyone, for your kind words and special thanks to South Western Ambulance Service and the staff at Derriford Hospital.
Bluebottle
)
ainkiller:
x
Comment