The Back Story of my Health Problems (Part 1)

I've had a few colds and migraines over the summer and I just put it down to being so busy and getting a little rundown. I recently went to Wales to visit my dad and see my sister's family and on the last night they were there, I didn't feel great and ended up falling asleep with my niece on the sofa whilst watching a film. When I woke up, tea was nearly ready but I wasn't very hungry so I just had some carrots and mash potatoes. I also started to develop a bit of a cough and so had an early night and a lie in the next day, as I had the house to myself for the morning. 

When I got back to Nottingham, I ended up spending the next two days in bed, before heading to work for my first of 4 consecutive night shifts. My temperature had spiked to 38.6 but settled to 38.1 with paracetamol and since then been normal for 48 hours before going to work. For the first time ever, I had to leave early and half way through a shift. I stayed until 2330 and then had to let the Flow Coordinator know that I couldn't stay any longer because I felt so unwell. 

After taking it easy for a few days and literally not moving from bed, I missed the first 3 wedding events for my cousin in law's brother's wedding. I felt awful but I literally could not have done it. I just about dragged myself out of bed for the Friday celebrations and went for just over 3 hours, coughing and spluttering a little. At this point, I thought I had a chest infection but the receptionist at the GP had refused to give me an appointment until I had been poorly for 2 weeks. 

Family picked me up the following morning and we headed for breakfast at a local cafe near my house. I haven't eaten much for the last week and I still wasn't very hungry, only managing half a bacon sandwich, whilst everyone else had a full English. Then it was time to head off to Kent. It was the longest drive and really took it's toll on me. We finally got to the hotel and had a little walk around the location, seeing another wedding set up which was gorgeous and then we had a meal at the restaurant. Again, I still wasn't hungry so I think I just had a few mouthfuls of garlic bread and half a brownie. 

The next day was the wedding day, and another incredibly long and busy day, but this time it was 26 degrees which felt scorching in a really big dress. The day was beautiful, but by the evening it was really starting to take it's toll on me. I was exhausted and getting out of breath and tired so had to ask my sister to take over looking after my nephew, as I couldn't keep up anymore. I also wanted to go back to our new hotel and was ordering a taxi but everyone else decided they also wanted to leave and so it ended up being about an hour later before I finally managed to book one. 

The journey back from Kent the following day, was the longest and most painful journey. I felt terrible, had an awful headache and was well and truly done with my family going above and beyond to upset me. I again spent the next day in bed but then I was working Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I'd already missed 5 days of work the week before, and with attending the wedding, I felt I had to go to work. I just about made it through the shifts, although I did faint on the second night and when I asked to go home at about 4am, I was told I had no staff to cover me. 

I then again spent days in bed. I had a GP appointment during my sleep day and got prescribed antibiotics for a chest infection and double ear infection. I'd gone deaf in one ear a few days prior and the other was still very muffled. I felt pretty rough so asked my cousin to pick up the antibiotics for me and was very thankful. I'd pretty much had a constant headache, needing paracetamol and ibuprofen continuously, and an awful cough. It wasn't until I started the antibiotics I started to have a runny nose, but that just made everything so much worse. 

On Sunday, I'd been awake all night coughing so managed to fall asleep mid-afternoon. When I woke back up, I had a coughing fit in bed and I felt well and truly terrible. My chest felt really tight, like someone was sitting on me and I couldn't take a deep breath in. I couldn't catch my breath at all and I could feel my heart racing. I went downstairs to do a set of observations on myself and my oxygen saturations were 90% and my heart rate was 145bpm. I felt terrible so I ended up calling an ambulance.