I've just spent twelve days in hospital, four of them in the intensive care unit. "Severe pneumoccoccal pneumonia" is what it says on my notes. Pneumonia. That's what I've had and I didn't know anything about it. I thought it was something heavy smokers or people with poor health got. Doctors told me I was unlucky.
I was busy with everyday life when I suddenly felt very cold and shivery. I went to bed and stayed there. That was on Thursday 24th November. A nurse at my surgery the next day told me I just had a virus. I stayed in bed all weekend. I got worse. On Monday 28th November I was admitted to the Royal Berks Hospital in Reading with restricted breathing and low blood oxygen levels. By that evening I was critically ill in intensive care.
I came home again on Friday 9th December. Now I'm a weak and helpless patient in my own home. I can do very little for myself, I can't look after the children. I spend most of my time in bed. My husband and family have stepped in and coped amazingly doing all the things I used to do. I've been told my recovery will take a long time. I won't get back to my former self until next Spring. That's fine. I'll be patient because I've got through the worst of it.
It's hard to make sense of what's happened, it doesn't seem real. My life has suddenly been turned upside down. It's been hard on those around me. It's been hard on the children. I was involved in every aspect of their lives and then I was suddenly taken away from them for nearly two weeks.
I've kept this blog for over two years. And now it feels more important to me than ever. It's a place where I can write about what's happened and try to process it all. It's hard to talk much to anyone because it makes me breathless. But I can find some energy to type.
So I'm sorry this blog post isn't festive or cheery. But it's my life right now.
Overall, this is a positive blog post. It's positive because I survived a critical illness. And I will get through the rest of it.
And the most positive part of this story is how my family have rallied round and shown such selfless love and care. I'm not unlucky, I'm actually very lucky. And I've had a stark reminder about what's really important in life.
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