The week my life got flipped upside down

The Lake District was supposed to be our escape.

I don’t want to start from 12 months ago, as I feel like everyone knows that part of the journey..

But, just three weeks ago, James and I were enjoying time in our absolute favourite place, the Lakes.

My back had been twingy for a few weeks beforehand, but a bit of discomfort (from a herniated disc diagnoses) had simply become my ‘new normal’ and I didn’t think anything of it.

I had so much planned.

But when we go there, I put my sensible head on and stayed on lower level stuff (much to my frustration). We had a beautiful few days (the weather was better than expected) and ticked off some things I normally would’ve turned my nose up at.

I’m a mountain girl at heart, and being in the Lakes and not up a mountain felt heartbreaking.

On Sunday morning I woke up in crippling pain. I couldn’t stand and had to get James to help me walk up the hill in the campsite (yes, we would literally have to be the furthest pitch away) from the showers etc.

But once I got my Naproxen down me (my daily tablets for the last 12 months) and got moving the pain went and I didn’t think much else of it and had a lovely walk around Derwentwater.

We got home Monday and Tuesday was life as normal, I went to the gym, and was hobbling a bit, but thought it would just ease off, and it did.

By Wednesday I was going downhill… and fast!

Trying to get hold of my GP is like trying to get hold of gold dust, but I actually got triaged quickly and only waited 24 hours for a call back.

The Locum GP was lovely and instructed me to get to A&E immediately due to the pain and the loss of my bladder sensation. I had no idea whether I needed the toilet or not, and it’s pretty blooming scary.

I had to get a taxi to A&E where I was surprised the screen said only a 1.5 hours wait… I got seen on and off, listened too by a lovely Doctor, but 8 hours later and no further forward, I was discharged on morphine, diazepam and codeine. I said to the Doctor they hadn’t touched me, but she promised me it would kick in, and I was discharged home.

Thursday night I couldn’t sleep. I am not joking, I was stood up, pacing my bedroom, hanging over my bed in the only position I could be in screaming the house down (as quietly as I could as I didn’t want to wake James).

By 4am I couldn't take it any longer. I’d tried my overnight meds, thrown up everywhere, so had no choice but to scream for James (who’d slept downstairs). 111 instructed me to an out of hours GP in Telford.

‘Why hadn’t you shouted me sooner’ asked James. But I wanted him to sleep, not worry about me.

I finally felt heard. This GP was lovely, did everything he could and was worried, due to my symptoms, I had Cauda equina syndrome (a rare and severe surgical emergency caused by compression on the root of the nerves on the spinal cord). Because I had no sensation of needing the toilet (complete loss of bladder) was his biggest worry, as well as no weight bearing on my right side, and the sheer pain he could see I was in.

Unfortunately, all he could do was send me over to A&E. This was my biggest nightmare. I don’t want this to be about slagging off the NHS because I really do understand the pressures they must be under, but there were 6 of us waiting and I had been given an urgent referral for the orthopaedic team due to the severity of my symptoms.

I was triaged in minutes. Bloods. Bladder tests etc all done within 30 minutes and then the nightmare started.. By 3 hours of waiting I hadn’t even been given any pain relief. I couldn't sit or stand properly. I could crouch on the floor for a limited time but I have never known pain like it.

I chased for pain relief and the orthopaedic consultant but still waited another hour.

Like I said, I don’t want to go into the ins and outs of my treatment staff or the NHS but I wasn't being heard at all.

Then all of a sudden, things moved quickly. I got seen and rushed for an MRI.

7 hours later, I was still waiting for results and more pain relief. Nothing was touching me at all. Still. They could’ve doubled that medication and I still don’t think it would have worked.

Hour after hour I had other patients in the waiting room asking me if I was ok because they could see how much pain I was in. One lady even offered to go and ‘do some shouting’ for me as I looked horrendous.

By 12 hours, I had to go and chase something up.

I found my registrar, who said ‘no surgery needed, there’s not been much change since your last MRI in January… There's nothing we can do, go home.

So, again I got discharged.

By this point I had been awake for over 48 hours.

I told him I was scared to go home because of the pain. I couldn’t sit, lie, stand, but off I had to go.

I took my drugs, and screamed the house down yet again all night.

Back on the phone to 111, scared. The pain was getting even worse. 111 were absolutely faultless and he said I had two options, go back to A&E or wait for an ambulance.

I opted for the ambulance, I couldn’t move, let alone get down any stairs to get into a car.

The paramedics were amazing, but equally said if they took me to A&E, I would unfortunately be left in the same position as the previous two days. They spoke to a GP, the first people who told me how I can actually make all the medication I had to help it work properly.

And finally… some calm!

All I had to do was hold out for another 4 days until my consultant appointment at RJAH.

I obviously couldn’t move, so everyone joined me for dinner in my bedroom. These little moments are so special but also so surreal looking back! My parents and boyfriend all sat on camping chairs in my bedroom just to keep me company.. it actually makes me cry now!

I thought that was it… get through to Thursday. My pain was ‘manageable’ but Monday had other ideas, and back onto 111. I won’t go into any details but illness hit, but we managed to get that under control in about 12 hours.

By this point… I was done, I really couldn’t take any more.

I still couldn’t lie down, sit on a chair or stand without being the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I had to lie on my hip with my feet off the bed and that’s how I had to try and sleep all night.

Thursday was here, and ‘you need urgent surgery’….

Before then, I’d love to hear from you: Have you ever had a moment where your health or your body flipped your entire life upside down? Drop a comment below, I’d love to read your stories while I rest up and prepare for what’s next.

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