My son (25) had been unwell for 3 days (started last Friday) with what he describes as 'THE WORST PAIN OF HIS LIFE'. It started as a normal headache but suddenly progressed into something a lot more painful. On Monday (which would have been the 3 days) he was at work and the pain in his head was causing him to shake, felt dizzy, off balance, nauseous, achy... so he called 111 who sent out an ambulance. The paramedics did his vitals and told him just to take paracetamol/ibuprofen (which he'd already been doing). I picked him up from work as he was unable to drive and he went straight to bed. During him sleeping I still woke him to give him pain meds.
Anyway...at midnight the pain was 'killing him' so I called out the ambulance again because he was talking nonsense and now deaf in his right ear. Many hours later they turned up and did vitals and again told him to take painkiller as he just had a virus that's doing the rounds. He went to bed and managed to get a few hours before the pain kicked in again.
Wednesday morning at 3am I heard loud groaning from his room, he was almost crying saying he couldn't cope anymore, it was so bad, the light off the landing was even hurting his eyes/head. He was talking gibberish and he managed to get out 'I feel sick' I told him to go to the loo if he was going to vomit but he mumbled he was okay. I turned my back and he staggered past me and was so violently sick.
Now I was even more worried as we had another symptom to add to the mix. I called 999 again and they said it was a 10 hour wait. He couldn't wait 10 hours. They said someone would call soon. I get that call and asked if I could take him (I don't drive and we're not local to a hospital) then they asked if he could drive.... the poor kid can't frigging walk or open his eyes.....
An hour or so later I get ANOTHER call.. this time he was a little more understanding and after 30 mins of talking he said that he definitely needed an ambulance. Thank god this time they took him.
My son since he's been in hospital has had a CT, MRI and a lumber puncture. He has a swollen brain, possibly meningitis (but doing further analysis on his spinal fluid), he's on a concoction of about 3 different antibiotics and constant pain relief.
I am so pissed off with the paramedics who said he was 'fine' and to take paracetamol. He looked like death each time he was seen, but because his vitals were okay, they deemed him fine. He could have been dead if left any longer without medical intervention.
He is still completely deaf in his ear, dizzy, disoriented, head pain now is about a consistent 4 out of 10 rather than off the scale....
I hate seeing him sick, he's never ill. He suffers with mental health issues too so he's not dealing with this very well. He's currently in a ward with the elderly and they tend to shout all night meaning he's not sleeping at all and right now he needs all the rest he can possibly get.
He won't be out any time soon and I am worried about the impact all this is having on him not to mention the fact he is really unwell.
I am a single mum and his dad refuses to talk to me since he got remarried. I can't even call/text him to discuss our son.
I just wish I could make him better...
Any words of advice would be amazing.
x