Life2Too
Medical page 3 2014/15 - me n' the wife
The previous medical pages cover the basics of my Cushing’s disease, burst brain (pituitary) tumour in 2011 which blinded my right eye, strokes and my “miracle” partial recoveries in the ensuing years. Throughout this I was supported by my wife who became my carer. Then in March 2014 she was admitted to Bournemouth hospital for a routine gall bladder /kidney stone procedure. It went wrong and following a series of errors and failures, including being repeatedly discharged prematurely with untreated infections her weight dropped throughout the year from13.5 stone to 8.5 stone in November by which time she was at death’s door. She was then left without medication and her drip feed over the weekend causing her to suffer seizures and brain damage. The intensive care team worked wonders to save her life but she has been left housebound, without feeling in her fingers and toes, devoid of energy and on the verge of dialysis / kidney transplant. Our GP has said he did not expect either of us to see 2015 as I caught the infection she had contracted in hospital, which laid me very low as I have no immune system since my tumour burst. He said that my surviving from 2011 and recovering to the extent I did is rare but the odds of my wife going through a similar process for totally different reasons are phenomenal. I hope to be able to publish the incredible story of our ongoing joint fight against the reaper and campaign to get Bournemouth hospital to improve their procedures and acknowledge their failures. We have had to employ carers and helpers as we prop each other up (often literally) between their visits. Her case is registered with the Ombudsman. Watch this space.
Medical update, Oct 2017 I shortly hope to add here the remarkable story of how throughout 2016 and 2017 both my wife and I have just managed to survive near death experiences. Due to almost identical errors made in 2014, Bournemouth hospital left my wife with serious neuropathy, doubly incontinent, fed through a tube and permanently confined to a nursing home bed. Meanwhile my brain tumour regrew and I had life saving treatment again, this time in Bristol. Having survived thus far, I hope to be able to write up some info and advice to help anyone going through something similar.