I hope this is positive.
I have very brittle asthma, have had countless admissions to ICU and am long term steroids for control.
I'm in a high risk group, so we kept dd1 (4) back from school early. DH is wfh from a couple of weeks ago, but dd came home with a dry cough, but seems 100% fine, running around and so on.
I got the cough for two weeks, self isolated, turned to productive cough, chest pain, breathlessness and on Sunday morning a high fever. I had had a head ache all day, but it was our wedding anniversary the night before and we had some wine and a nice meal so I chalked it up to that but by the afternoon I started my rescue pack #2 and home nebuliser. At this point I felt like shit, aches and pains and the lot but if the breathlessness hadn't been spiralling out of control, it would have been unpleasant but manageable.
So we called 111, they were a bit rubbish and didn't call back for 4-5 hours. Called again as breathlessness getting quite bad.
They sent an ambulance in 18 minutes. The two paramedics were lovely, wonderful, helpful, and so brave.
They took me off to a special CV a&e unit set up. It had curtains and segregation and controlled entry points with gloves and aprons being changed.
The nursing staff triaged me and doctors saw me within minutes. The entire staff was amazing. Xrays and blood tests done within the hour. Nebulisers and drugs started also.
By 2am I was confirmed with double pneumonia ie in both lungs and admitted to the CV acute ward where I am right now.
They took a swab to test for CV. The consultant this morning said I had all the classic signs of CV including decreased lymphocytes, but my chest X-ray didn't show the classic pattern, so we just had to wait and see. Maybe it was bacterial? Or another viral not CV?
I'm feeling so much better now. I'm on oxygen and loads of drugs, but had a shower on my own and eating well and except for being quite tired feeling well.
If this is CV the positives I want people to take away are:
The staff in the NHS especially nurses are heroes. If there is anything I could do for them when I'm well I'd do it in a heartbeat. They do a great job and will take care of you.
My lungs are fairly fuct: if I can get through this comparatively easy (I've had many many worse admissions) then this is doable especially for many of you that don't have underlying conditions. A bit miserable but not too bad
And lastly, please say a good wish and prayer for me. They said the swab results would be back by the evening... im waiting :-)
I'm waiting :-)