Thursday 2 April 2015

Getting back on track

Since the beginning of February i haven't been very well. It all started off with a small rash on my leg and within a week is had spread and covered both my legs, my hips and the bottom of my back. The rash always made my joints (ankles and knees) swell to the point i couldn't walk. In the end i had to go to A&E to see what they thought it could be. They first thought it was a bacterial infection and sent me home with antibiotics. But it still hadn't gone and by this point it spread to my arms. I got referred to see a dermatologist and he diagnosed me with henoch-schonlein purpura (or hsp for short). He said it would clear up within a week and that it was on its way out of my system, just had to keep an eye on my kidneys every couple months or so because one of the main complications with hsp is kidney problems. Anyway, a week past and i was getting worse. I woke up one morning with extreme abdominal pain and nothing was taking the pain away and the rash just got worse as well. I soon went to the doctors at the start of the week and he thought it was cramps so he gave me something to take and said it will go within a few days when taking these tablets, but it didn't. On that weekend we had to call for an ambulance because the pain was so extreme i wasn't eat and i couldn't take any medication or pain killers because i couldn't hold anything down, i was just sicking them back up. So the ambulance took me to hospital on an iv drip of morphine to take the pain off on the way there. When we got to hospital, they gave me a bit more morphine and then a drip of paracetamol and anti sickness. I was there for at least 5 hours before they sent me home with anti sickness tablets and co-codamol. I had my fingers crossed that the pain would go or at least die down within that week because the Thursday (19th of March) i was getting my tonsils taken out. The operation went very well and the abdominal pain thankfully died down whilst i got my tonsils out. The day i got discharged from taking my tonsils out, it all started again. I couldn't hold any of my medication down, any pain killers for my tummy or throat, any food or water. So we had no choice but to ring the ambulance again. They came and same as last time, gave me morphine through a drip on the way there and when i arrived at the hospital, they put me on a drip of fluids because of how much i was sick it made me very dehydrated. The doctor decided to admit me to hospital to keep an eye on me and make sure i had lots of iv fluids as i wasn't eating or drinking anything. I was in hospital for a week and 3 days. Having scans and blood tests and after all that time, they finally found the reason why i'm always in so much pain. They found out that the rash on my skin is also in my intestines which makes them swell and where the blood vessels burst they bleed. They sent me home with very strong painkillers and anti sickness tablets. I know i'm always going to have this but it comes in waves, sometimes it can go for a while but then come back and thats something i'm going to have to live with but if i look after myself and eat properly it shouldn't be so bad. Since being ill i have lost a stone and a half in weight, not the best way to lose weight but from now on, i'm fit and healthy. Even if your not ill you should always look after yourself to make sure you don't get ill. Being in hospital for that long was so draining and horrible and i hope i never have to stay there again. 

No comments:

Post a Comment