Thursday, September 06, 2007




Yesterday morning I woke up with a familiar scratchy sore feeling at the back of my nose and throat. In the groggy early morning hours (genuinely early, not nearly-midday-early). First thought was a mild despair of “oh no here we go straight onto my lungs and in for IVs” until I remembered that these lungs aren’t quite as naughty as their predecessors, so this may well not be the case.

Then my brain decided to go into overdrive on the imagination front. “It’s my first cold since Transplant. I am immunosupressed. OhmyGOD this cold virus is going to invade my body and take over everything”. Nice rational stuff like that.

I took my temperature every few hours yesterday and did my lung function twice. No change. Same sort of regime this morning but despite trying not to be too neurotic I finally decided to ring Harefield “just in case”.

Me: “Hi can I speak to one of the nurses please?
V Lovely Nurse: “Yes how can I help?”
Me: “Erm, I have a bit of a head cold”
VLN: (probably wondering what this has to do with hearts and lungs) OK...”
Me: “Erm, well it’s my first cold post transplant, and, er I was just wondering if I needed to do...anything...” (trail off feeling a little thick)
VLN: “OK well have you checked your temperature and lung function?”
Me: (proudly) “Yes several times and both are fine.”
VLN: (reassuringly) Excellent well you are doing all the right things, just keep an eye on it and let us know if anything changes.”

So you see having numerous collapsed lungs, pneumonia, septicaemia, low enough oxygen saturations to kill, well, anyone really, and a rather major operation does not necessarily make one any less of a worrier about the small things. I shall try and behave less like a man about this now and remember I am still allowed to feel a bit run-down, just like anyone else...

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

A man would never seek professional help about anything to do with his health - too proud. You did the right thing.
Lindy x

Anonymous said...

best to be on 'safe side' spec after Rachs events last week eek!!! :O

Tired today been transplant clinic and needs haemoatologist to suss out why Rachs wcc in her boots!! :O and ended up in ICU last week! thankfully better now!

Take care hugz xx

Lorraine said...

You can NEVER be too careful considering your medical history. You should never have to apologise or make excuses in seeking out medical opinion's - you are very sensible. Can't have our leader laid up snottering for the Hydro! xx

Sarah Milne said...

Hope you feel better soon Sweetie. At least you have enough time to get over a cold before the Hydo :-)
lots of love as always Sarah xxx

Anonymous said...

Em, I phoned the transplant team about a week after my operation to say I was 'extremely tired' - looking back it sounds rather silly but you still need reasurrance from time to time.

Your immunity will stay good for years, I'm sure! Lets face it, after all those collapses, pneumonia blah blah, I don't think a common cold will challenge you too much!!

Audrey xx

Anonymous said...

Hello Emily , glad to hear you are feeling reassured now i must admit i was worried for you when i heard you had a cold but you've done the right things , i'm sure that your new lungs will behave themselves every one of us needs a test from time to time to reassure us that we are in good working order !
Feel better soon xxx
Shelley x

Anonymous said...

Lovely Emily, you're bound to feel run down sometimes, after all you've been doing so much! You did absolutely the right thing so don't go doubting yourself :) So looking forward to seeing you at the Hydro - it's been waaaaaay too long xx

suzie said...

Em,

You're entitled to have a wee panic, we all have them, with much less reason than you have and when this 'bit of a cold' passes you'll look back and say these new puffers coped just fine with that one.

Sending loads of love and a huge (((HUG))) xxx

Jayne said...

Hope the cold clears up quickly and I giggled a lot at the cartoon.

xxx

Rebecca said...

Glad to hear that your lungs are behaving themselves despite your head cold!

Hope it clears up soon so that you can get back to enjoying yourself and doing lots more talking! ;o)

Anonymous said...

Hope you are feeling better soon Em, and you are definitely doing the right thing in getting it checked out.

Take care and lots of love from MoO and Gracey lou too xxxx

Sandylizz said...

At least ringing them put your mind at ease other wise you would have just carried on worrying.... Hope it goes quick enough x x

Anonymous said...

excellent cartoon hehe. I think i suffer from hypochondria too btw. I don't think having a chronic disease helps you ignore the little things, but more likely we know what could happen etc etc. Hope you feel better soon
Lizzie xxxx