Three years on...

6th April 2010...

Both the best and worst day of my life so far, without a doubt. At around 11am, pretty much as I type this, I had an anaphylactic reaction whilst unconscious, to intravenous Augmentin; a drug containing penicillin. Strange as it may sound, I'd taken penicillin for weeks pre-op and had no problems until the test dose of the intravenous preparation.

Looking through my medical notes, those few minutes were grim... And I'm so glad I wasn't conscious through it, because the scars left behind are more than enough for me to deal with. The night I spent in the Critical Care Unit was horrible; I'd never, and still haven't ever felt so ill in my life. There were moments where I thought I would die, and moments when it felt surreal to be alive after what had happened.

I don't know what drugs they were, but something they gave me made my whole body shake. It was so very strange not to be able to keep myself still, but the adrenaline they'd given me was making my heart rate sky high. Something wasn't quite right with my breathing and my blood pressure was really low.

That night felt like the longest night of my life. I was admitted to the Unit at around 3pm, and was there till around midday the next day. I know it's not that long, but when you're only sixteen and were supposed to just be a day patient, things like this shock you and floods of emotion are released.

Without the fast actions of my consultant, I'm not sure what would have happened; I don't know quite how bad the situation was because I wasn't awake. But I'm just glad that the experience wasn't any worse than it was, because that was quite enough for me!

Nonetheless, I can't believe I've come this far. From 2009, I've suffered from the AVM and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, been diagnosed with a platelet disorder and get persistent stomach troubles. But, I've got 11 GCSEs, 3 A Levels and am now finishing my first year of Medical School. So many people and events have made me into a different person to who I would be otherwise, and every single person who's loved me, wished me well and believed in me deserves to share the happiness and the accomplishment I'm feeling today.

Start of new things

I know I haven't written for ages, and I can only attribute my online absence to the changes that have taken place in my life and the current circumstances. Now, I am a university student; a medical student, and I can't believe that I'm here!

So, I know that there must be some people around that want to know how I'm doing, medically. Lately, I have met a few new AVM friends, people with young children suffering from AVM and others who I've been lucky enough to meet "just because".

As for my own situation, I am trying to get referred to a different plastic surgeon nearer my university. The man I saw previously doesn't work too far from me, but I figured that I may as well find someone nearer since I didn't feel like I got on well with the previous guy. My orthopaedic surgeon is still doing things for me that I thought nobody ever would; suggesting things and doing things before I even ask. My vascular surgeon has taken a back seat, which doesn't really bother me - and in fact, works nicely since my orthopaedic surgeon has taken a step up. It means I don't have to miss too many lectures and practicals too!

My orthopaedic surgeon has fallen sick, however, and I am so worried about him! His secretary says that he's not sure if he'll be in clinic next week, after having missed this week. He must be quite ill if his illness means he must take more than a week off - I just hope that he gets better as soon as possible. My vascular surgeon has said that in the meantime, if I don't see my orthopaedic next week, that he will see me regularly until my orthopaedic is back. I am so lucky to have so many doctors who are willing to stand up and look after me when others aren't able to.

I have had numerous infections in the past month, but have also managed to maintain myself at a stable weight, although this takes much effort and preoccupies my mind all the time. I have been very busy with all-things-uni, though I know that this is only set to get worse, so I am trying to keep on top of everything while I know I still can.

There are so many more things that have happened since I last wrote, but there is no way I'll be able to fit it into a longer-than-average sized post! I break up for Christmas break on the 21st December, and I have no days off until then - now that I'm almost on top of all my work, I should be around more than I have been. Meanwhile, please take care and stay well!

Big(ish) update!

I got into medical school, as of Thursday! I am SO excited to begin the journey that should take me to a doctor! Though I've decided that maybe I'd prefer to do medical law, but we'll have to see when the time comes since it'll be in five years time at least.

For my "good results", my father has just bought me a MacBook Air! I'm so so happy with it but I still feel like it's much more than I deserve. I will also be getting a new pair of Uggs and Converses in the near future so I am really excited for that too.

On another note, I was at the hospital on Friday and had a chance encounter with a violent and aggressive patient who was aggravated over the lack of receptionist at the desk when he arrived in the department. Even my surgeon was vexed by the man's behaviour which is unusual since my surgeon seems to have the patience of a saint! I am being admitted next week for some surgical procedure or other and will have to call his secretary tomorrow to find out details and ask where I need to go since my surgeon runs theatre lists both in Harley Street as well as Greater London.

I have had some terrible bleeding lately which is the main reason why I haven't been updating as regularly as I want to be. I am getting some bloods done too next week, as I can't get in to my GP for the next three weeks so we will pay privately to have them done when I am admitted next week. I also realised a few days ago that someone has been giving my insurance policy number to their hospital for treatment as I am receiving phantom bills from hospitals and consultants unknown to me... Once again, I have a case on my hands that has come about through no fault of my own and needs sorting. Similarly, but thankfully, my issue with the other private clinic I attended has been sorted. They decided to freeze my account to investigate matters and then adjusted my payments and informed me that things had been wrongly billed. This is still no excuse for their pathetic letter, waffling through reasons why they billed me for wrong things, despite having been told by the nurse himself that I was wrongly billed for monetary reasons!

I have already met a couple of people going to the same medical school as me and I am so excited to attend some of the Freshers' events with them. I'm glad that I have met people beforehand as I would otherwise be more apprehensive than I already am to go to uni!

Anyway sorry for the super long post but I haven't updated in a long time and thought I should! I hope you've all had a gorgeous weekend, just like I have. Lots and lots of love to you all :)