A Grateful Heart

I have not been very active on my social media platforms for months because I have been quite ill for at least a year and possibly two.

Basically I have been feeling unwell, lightheaded, dizzy, tired, freezing cold (in the heat, I still worn jumpers and thermal) and getting breathless with a nasty chesty cough which led me to take several courses of antibiotics. However I felt more sick after the last lot of antibiotics in April, so I requested a thorough review by the Rapid Respiratory Response Team.

The Respiratory team already carried out lots of tests due to me taking so many courses of antibiotics. However so far everything came back normal.

During the home visit, the nurse found that I have low body temperature and oxygen level. I actually told the nurse that I believe I have a nasty bug inside my body which is not visible in many tests. This is the reason why I am ill for a while and fine for a few weeks, then sick again etc. This bug is not responding to the antibiotics I have been taking and possibly it could be in my lungs.

On hearing that, she referred me to see the first available Respiratory consultant which was only a few days later. From there, things moved very quickly as the result of the CT scan came back finally showing progressive damage to my lungs. Two Respiratory consultants believe I have an unusual bug inside my lungs after reviewing my CT scan, so I was sent for a bronchoscopy quickly.

I was extremely sick after the bronchoscopy as it triggered the infection in my body but finally recovered a bit and my body temperature started to raise again.

Then two days ago, I received a call from my Respiratory consultant stating a partial sample result came back showing my lungs has a non contagious super bug called stenotrophomonas and he already sent the prescription to my local pharmacy. Stenotrophomonas is one of the newly super bugs resistant to many antibiotics and this explains why I became more sick despite taking antibiotics.

This new course of antibiotics is wiping me out, as it's so potent with many side effects. Also it's making me feel exhausted, nausea and a bit shaky but I am so grateful that the Respiratory team had listened and believed me. Most of all, so grateful that I have 24/7 hours access to the Rapid Respiratory Response team and being closely monitored by my consultant.

The moral of this post is to seek medical assistance if you are certain that you are not well and do not stop until you have been thoroughly investigated. Never take "No" as a final answer!

Incredibly grateful that we have such a wonderful NHS!!!