TB. Fuck.

[ConspicuousConsumptive]

Diagnosed today after 6 months of deteriorating health. Can anyone hold my hand?

Well, I would but I might catch something...
Seriously though, how are you? What are they doing to help? At least now you have a diagnosis presumably they can make you better?

blimey

I'll hold your hand.

What happens now?

How did you get it?

Sorry to hear. Surely TB is well known enough to diagnose sooner than six months though. The treatment must be pretty good these days?

Ah, thanks MNers. "Fuckityfuckfuckfuck" is pretty much what I said when the consultant called with the news this afternoon. I've got an appointment at the hospital tomorrow to sort out treatment which I understand is a 6 month course of hardcore antibiotics.

I am bricking it and avoiding Dr Google at this stage because I'm scared enough as it is without reading horror stories

On the other hand, yes at least I've got a diagnosis now and it's treatable thank god. I've felt so unbelievably shite for months now and I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

No idea how I got it - I don't work in a high-risk sector like health or housing etc. Thank god for the NHS and modern medicine. My Dad lost both parents to TB in Ireland in the 40s - I know I'm lucky that it's been identified and that I'll be cured hopefully.

Feeling very low and frightened this evening though so thanks for all the hand-holding*

*the antibacterial hand-spray is that way > > >

Absolutely do not google. The fact they've found it is a GOOD THING. For tonight, you don't need to think about anything more than that. Maybe take a notebook with you so you can take down what they're saying even if it doesn't all register at the time iyswim.

Not a horror story!!!

my granny had TB in 1940-ish. she spent a year in a sanitorium where she could see london being blitzed on the horizon. Her and her fellow patients used to escape down the fire escape and go to the local pub and drink cider. (i know - i've read her diaries ) Sounds sort of fun in a twisted kind of way.
Anyway. she ended up with only one lung and smoked herself into grand old age.

I have gloves in my pocket and can hold a hand.

I also think you really must get a chaise longue. Victorian consumptives always recline on a chaise

I am bing flippant in a feeble attempt at humour

Here to hold your hand too.

Hope you are ok, modern medicine is a wonderful thing and if they've found it, they'll be able to do something about it.

Any idea where you contracted it from?

from what I gathered from friend-who-is-doctor (as a junior doctor she worked in hospitals where they ran twice-weekly TB clinics) it is actually eminently treatable as long as it is taken seriously (i.e. you take the anti-Bs and stay the course). The main problem they had was with itinerant communities who didn't stay in one place for long enough to complete the treatment and would end up with drug-resistant TB as a result.

{disclaimer - I know nothing, really, so this is hearsay, but well-based hearsay}

Our family friend got TB a few years ago and she was treated successfully and is absolutely fine - you'd have no idea looking at her (I had assumed she would always seem a bit "feeble" afterwards, or prone to getting ill, but she's as stubborn and energetic as ever).

Also, really do not google. I've been having a fight with DP about this who keeps googling his symptoms - if google worked, doctors would not be in medical school for 5+ years. I was very ill for a week when I lived alone - I googled. Apparently I had either appendicitis, ovarian cysts, cancer, or was pregnant. I had IBS.

So there you have a happy-ending TB story, and a "look how stupid Google is" story.

I'm sorry you're ill though OP.

Thanks Fuckity - no-one is more relieved than I am to finally have a diagnosis after so long for something that is treatable - yes a GOOD THING when I think about all the other rotten things that could have been afoot with similar symptoms. And NO to Google - I am impressed with my self-discipline on this front so far

My friend is coming to the hospital with me tomorrow so hopefully he'll be able to absorb what's being said while I'm blubbing taking it in too.

AtYourCervix - that is a quality TB story. Bravo your granny. More of this type of thing please.

Thanks again MNers - I'm on my own this evening and this is making all the difference

Make a promise with yourself now that you will not google until you are completely better.

It's like starting a packet of biscuits, you have one then find out you've eaten the whole bloody packet and feel totally shit as a result.

I got very serious illness (very mildly). I googled in the waiting room after my diagnosis and found out my lungs could collapse, I would miscarry my baby in the process and I could die or be paralysed for life. It scared the shit out of me and I stopped there and then.

Good luck - modern medicine is an amazing thing. God bless the NHS

Ex MIL had TB back in the late 50s and after a spell in a sanatorium, went on to lead a normal, healthy life and produce Ex H and his siblings.

I'm sure TB is completely treatable now.

Erm, I am all lung diseasy, what with the asthma and that and I was described as a sickly weak child - THANKS A LOT MRS TRUMAN YOU HORRIBLE WOMAN! - but modern medicine has saved my life twelvety times over.

WITHOUT BACTERIAL AGENT (I haven't even had the jab - wasn't allowed as it is made out of rabbits or something.)

My uncle lost a lung to TB during WWII - when treatment wasn't very good. He lived a long and happy life with one lung - and was frequently seen puffing away on his stinky pipe. He loved motor bikes, camping with his DW and 3 DCs and singing at family parties - it definitely didn't hold him back.

I know of a few elderly people who contracted TB decades ago when young, and made a full recovery after treatment. Good luck tomorrow.

Cervix - I actually do own a chaise longue - and that emoticon < < is very appropriate too unfortunately. The Victorians weren't making it up about white skins, flushed cheeks and shiny eyes. Also feeling like fainting a lot

Octo - no, absolutely no idea where I could have picked it up from. I don't live in a major city and I don't work in a high-risk job. It's a total mystery to me and I keep racking my brains!

Stealth - thanks for that, it's really helpful to know that - I fucking hate taking antibs but I know how important it is to finish courses, so I'm gritting my teeth for 6 months of thrush tablets.

Grace - Dr Google is the work of the devil. I am steering well clear as I had quite enough of that before I knew what was wrong with me (iykwim).

Seriously though - can I just say massive hats off to the NHS for all the care I'm receiving. From turning sputum tests around in 3 hours to putting up with me swearing and weeping on hearing the news, I cannot fault the care I've had and I'm so grateful

I think you will be needing a cashmere blanket with which to wilt elegantly on your chaise longue.

Lordy how very 1930s of you! I feel so sorry! I hope you don't feel too ill at the moment! My Aunt had it in the early 60s and had to sit on a veranda all the time at the tb hospital...right where my house is now! She's 60 odd now and fit as a fiddle! You will be too. xx

I have 2 friends, both my age (mid 30s) who had TB in the late 1990s.

One had cystic fibrosis - which affects your lungs and immune system and makes you very vulnerable to bugs. He made a full recovery, despite the added complication of CF.

My other friend had it and also made a full recovery, in fact I'm going out on the piss with her this weekend :)

I hope the treatment kicks in quick and you feel better soon.

Keep those TB Survivor stories coming MNers - this is what I need to hear. Possibly Stately Homes territory, but I'm pretty sure my weepy, panicky reaction to the diagnosis has a lot to do with the spectre of my Dad's dead parents. I know the awesome power of antibs will see me right in the long run, but in my head I hear 'TB' and it just feels like it's game over

Yes I need a cashmere blanket, a veranda and an iron lung several hot water bottles.

And one of these

Evening
I will hold your hand
Hope you feel better soon and yes, invest in a chaise thingy.