Journey to Perfect Health *Part 3*
The words I dreaded to hear were coming from my GP's mouth "Hospital". Now I knew I was in a nightmare...
The ECG carried out on my heart showed that my heart beat had become irregular, as well as operating at 3 times it's normal speed! I had no choice - Sime agreed with the doctor & I was extremely scared of what was happening to me. Looking back, it was irresponsible to have let myself become so ill, but Sime was working long hours & I was trying to look after everyone else. It just crept up on me.
One of the first thoughts that came to mind about going into hospital was of absolute fear, both my Grandad & my Sister died in hospitals through medical negligence, so I was really quite frightened!
As soon as I arrived, a nurse told me that my dangerous heart condition needed to be dealt with quickly. She told me that they wanted to use some sort of injection to stop my heart.
"You'll have a strong sense of impending doom, but it will only last for about 10 minutes. Then we'll use the defibrillator to get it working again".
The way I saw it - they were basically going to kill me & then bring me back to life... I just couldn't believe what I was hearing, so I refused & said I'd rather take the beta-blockers! I explained that I had an over active thyroid & not a real heart condition. She insisted that their information stated I was a heart patient! It took both Sime & I a while to persuade her to look into my records - the proof that I was an endocrinology patient at the hospital. Eventually, after finding my records & speaking to an endocrinologist - she returned with massive doses of various drugs & I took them, I just wanted my heart to stop pounding & within 24 hours it did!
My first night in hospital, I was attached to a heart monitor - which was constantly bleeping. In the end, I was so exhausted, I switched it off. The staff didn't notice & at least I managed to sleep a little! The next day, I was moved the heart ward - The consultant felt that was where I should go, so there I was surrounded by lots of little old ladies recovering from heart attacks & operations! Nevermind, the staff were nice & my system was starting to calm down...
Later that day - I had a visit from a doctor who worked in the medical school. He asked me if I would allow some students to examine me, so I agreed. Little did I know that "some" meant over 100... They started coming in large groups with lecturers & what they wanted them to look at was my goitre. Could I drink some water? So they could watch my thyroid move up & down. Can they measure my goitre? Can they listen to it? Fine, but when they continued to visit me for days - I started getting really fed up! Then, one day, I was eating my lunch, when a lecturer with 2 students turned up wondering if they could see me. I asked if they would let me finish my meal, so they retreated to the entrance of the ward, where they watched & waited. I took my time & was reading while eating, so the lecturer came over & asked if I could speed up a bit. I said no & she tutted at me! With that, I saw red & followed her to the entrance & began shouting at her.
"How dare you be so rude, when I'm doing you a huge favour", "You parade all your students before me & treat me like a fucking freak, well it's not a freak show - it's a hospital & I'm here to get better - so piss off".
Phew did that feel good! I then broke down in tears & left the ward sister to get rid of them - she even contacted the school & told them not to send anymore, so thank goodness for that! Some of the lecturers had been vile, they just saw me as a goitre & didn't even thank me when they'd finished. Sometimes, I would see a couple of students look really uncomfortable - as they could see how I was being treated & they would thank me & shake or pat my hand. Those students will be the ones that will make great doctors in my opinion, they were sensitive & sympathetic towards me & that's an important quality.
Anyway, a few days later - the consultants were happy that my heart was under control again. Funny really, as they had told me that it would be irregular for the rest of my life & I would probably need heart medication for life too... I didn't believe them & was convinced that they were just scaring me! As it turned out - my heart returned to normal & I was allowed home... HOORAY!!!
*To be continued*
The ECG carried out on my heart showed that my heart beat had become irregular, as well as operating at 3 times it's normal speed! I had no choice - Sime agreed with the doctor & I was extremely scared of what was happening to me. Looking back, it was irresponsible to have let myself become so ill, but Sime was working long hours & I was trying to look after everyone else. It just crept up on me.
One of the first thoughts that came to mind about going into hospital was of absolute fear, both my Grandad & my Sister died in hospitals through medical negligence, so I was really quite frightened!
As soon as I arrived, a nurse told me that my dangerous heart condition needed to be dealt with quickly. She told me that they wanted to use some sort of injection to stop my heart.
"You'll have a strong sense of impending doom, but it will only last for about 10 minutes. Then we'll use the defibrillator to get it working again".
The way I saw it - they were basically going to kill me & then bring me back to life... I just couldn't believe what I was hearing, so I refused & said I'd rather take the beta-blockers! I explained that I had an over active thyroid & not a real heart condition. She insisted that their information stated I was a heart patient! It took both Sime & I a while to persuade her to look into my records - the proof that I was an endocrinology patient at the hospital. Eventually, after finding my records & speaking to an endocrinologist - she returned with massive doses of various drugs & I took them, I just wanted my heart to stop pounding & within 24 hours it did!
My first night in hospital, I was attached to a heart monitor - which was constantly bleeping. In the end, I was so exhausted, I switched it off. The staff didn't notice & at least I managed to sleep a little! The next day, I was moved the heart ward - The consultant felt that was where I should go, so there I was surrounded by lots of little old ladies recovering from heart attacks & operations! Nevermind, the staff were nice & my system was starting to calm down...
Later that day - I had a visit from a doctor who worked in the medical school. He asked me if I would allow some students to examine me, so I agreed. Little did I know that "some" meant over 100... They started coming in large groups with lecturers & what they wanted them to look at was my goitre. Could I drink some water? So they could watch my thyroid move up & down. Can they measure my goitre? Can they listen to it? Fine, but when they continued to visit me for days - I started getting really fed up! Then, one day, I was eating my lunch, when a lecturer with 2 students turned up wondering if they could see me. I asked if they would let me finish my meal, so they retreated to the entrance of the ward, where they watched & waited. I took my time & was reading while eating, so the lecturer came over & asked if I could speed up a bit. I said no & she tutted at me! With that, I saw red & followed her to the entrance & began shouting at her.
"How dare you be so rude, when I'm doing you a huge favour", "You parade all your students before me & treat me like a fucking freak, well it's not a freak show - it's a hospital & I'm here to get better - so piss off".
Phew did that feel good! I then broke down in tears & left the ward sister to get rid of them - she even contacted the school & told them not to send anymore, so thank goodness for that! Some of the lecturers had been vile, they just saw me as a goitre & didn't even thank me when they'd finished. Sometimes, I would see a couple of students look really uncomfortable - as they could see how I was being treated & they would thank me & shake or pat my hand. Those students will be the ones that will make great doctors in my opinion, they were sensitive & sympathetic towards me & that's an important quality.
Anyway, a few days later - the consultants were happy that my heart was under control again. Funny really, as they had told me that it would be irregular for the rest of my life & I would probably need heart medication for life too... I didn't believe them & was convinced that they were just scaring me! As it turned out - my heart returned to normal & I was allowed home... HOORAY!!!
*To be continued*
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Kay and Sime
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