[Misc] Bit of a scare

[Jam The Man]

Wow. Take it easy my friend - hope you’re on the mend.

 

[Barrow Boy]

I hear you. My husband went through something like that last year and I could see the panic in his eyes as I called 999. The fear makes the breathing so much worse.

Thankyou Edna, we take the ability to breath for granted until it's snatched away from you, is your husband ok now?

 

[pearl]

Hope this is helpful.

In Jan 2020 I went on a business trip to Toronto, whilst there I went on a running machine and developed a really painful swelling in my calf, linked I suspect to playing Sunday football until I was 47. I had a particularly bad night flight back crammed in between two 6 foot plus blokes and vowed never to volunteer for that again.

In February I had a meeting in London and walked the mile and a bit to Shoreham station at a brisk pace. There was a problem on the trains and we couldn't get into London Bridge, so I decided to walk back to my meeting from Blackfriars. I was rushing as I was late, but was really struggling for breath.

I assumed I had something asthma related as symptoms would come and go, without any obvious explanation. In March I drove my car into Shoreham to get it serviced. I put the dog in the boot, so I could walk him home. I got onto the footbridge at Shoreham and the cold air hit my lungs. Half way across I had to lean over the side to catch my breath and when that wasn't working I decided it was best that I lay down. I warned a few people who checked to keep their distance as I had no idea if I was infectious, but a bloke on a bike decided to ignore me and stop anyway. Fortunately he was an A&E doctor on his way to work at Worthing hospital.

I was in there for a couple of days and needed oxygen to get to the bathroom and back. I had two massive clots one in each lung and the left ventricle of my heart was showing signs of strain. At one point I recall my blood oxygen measure was 83%, but the stomach injections and oxygen, helped to turn things round. First thing to note, the medication doesn't actually break up the blood clot, it just provides the relief your body needs to do this itself. I have been put on Apixaban for life, as the diagnosis was unattributed pulmonary embolism.

First night out of hospital and without oxygen, I nearly passed out walking to the bathroom, so I probably rushed things a little. I then took the clippers to my head and shaved all my hair off. I have a selfie from this time and I look truly awful, but actually I was able to bounce back quickly. If you are worried, those little blood oxygen monitors you stick on your finger are easy to buy online and cost in the region of £20-30. I have had absolutely no side effects from taking Apixaban and no problem with bleeding. I swim in the sea and have had a couple of grazes from rocks, which bleed like mad, as soon as you get out of the water, but it soon stops and is no different to how things were before.

Aside from pill popping the only other adjustment I have made is to stop trying to run. I checked with my GP, who saw no issue with me resuming running, but my body is telling me something different. Is is the only thing which seems to really cause me calf problems. Everything else is entirely normal for a bloke of my age, weight and fitness level. Barrow Boy if you have any concerns or want to chat, feel free to PM me.

I am glad you are doing well .... hope your dog is ok?

 

[CheeseRolls]

I am glad you are doing well .... hope your dog is ok?

The dog was fine Pearl,I didn't leave him in the car boot and he wasn't at all bothered that I decided to have a lie down on the footbridge. I walked him home with the doc and his bike, to wait for an ambulance.

I think I had to stop and sit down for a rest about half a dozen times, which gave him plenty of opportunities to sniff around. The doc was fabulous, an ambulance never arrived and once my family members returned, the doc set off again for work on his bike and I got a lift to the hospital. Barrow Boy is in the right place, as far as I am concerned Worthing Hospital is excellent. The staff, nurses and doctors are all stars.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Glad to hear you were so well looked after [MENTION=9276]Barrow Boy[/MENTION].

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I think the bottom line is it may be a bit iffy for whiney git's like me, groaning in A@E with a 'stomach ache', but when it is a genuine emergency the NHS is still on top of it.

That said, there is no room for complacency and I do worry about the creep of institutionalization and what Douglas Adams called the shoe event horizon (where the infrastructure gets so complicated it can never be untangled). Not for this thread though. Let's rejoice at lives that would have been lost that were, instead, saved