I love Ronan Keating and one of my favourite songs is "If Tomorrow Never Comes". Well this is not really about that song but the words nearly ran true two weeks ago when I became very ill and woke up in ICU, not even remembering leaving my own house the previous night, carted off by two wonderful ambos to the local hospital and then onto emergency at Tweed.
I was born an acute asthmatic and in later years developed 'Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis or ABPA' which is a fungal lung disease. However, I have been able to live a fairly normal life, still working and doing my own housework etc. I know the symptoms when I am getting worse and regulate my medication accordingly - increase prednisone plus anti-biotics when needed etc., under the direction of my local Dr and specialist.
However, two weeks ago on the Tues morning my husband started vomiting and then I started plus diarrhea. Luckily my husband didn't go to work and I ended up going to sleep and later in the night around 8 o'clock I became unresponsive and 000 was called.
My husband was told to ring the family in the early hours of Wed morning as things weren't looking too good. My two wonderful daughters drove down from Brisbane and I awoke to find myself in ICU, ALIVE and my family filling me in on where I had been! One lovely young nurse in ICU told me I was Septus and she had expected the rescuscitation tube to be inserted, (just missed that one).
Anyway, after 4 days in ICU and 4 days in the ward I came home. My family and friends have been wonderful and I can only imagine the fear I put my family through, especially my husband who hates answering the telephone at anytime without having to ring 000.
My local Dr knows my condition but she wasn't there and I couldn't talk so Lesson One: I now carry a letter explaining my condition: which apart from the above is what happened - when a normal person gets sick their adrenal gland kicks in to fight the infection, mine is compromised so there is nothing there and I must be treated with a high dose of cortisone.
Lesson Two: Don't be alone when very sick, my husband didn't go to work that day because he was sick but normally I would have been by myself and if I had deteriorated earlier in the day, I may not have made it to hospital.
Lesson Three: Put more thought into today, it's great to plan ahead but make sure each day counts because you just never know what can happen.
So tell that Someone that you love
Just what you are thinking of
If tomorrow never comes.
