Anaphylactic shock

I've been fairly quiet so far this year, which I guess is a good thing when the medium is a blog designed to bleat about my various ailments, but I think enough has happened this week to warrant another update!

After returning from Venice I came down with a chest infection. I'm not sure whether Ryanair or Venice canal was the culprit, but on Tuesday afternoon I decided it was too severe to self-treat and dragged myself to my GP who gave me antibiotics. I started the course that evening and felt a bit wheezy and itchy, but not terrible. I came up in a bit of a rash, and also felt incredibly anxious for no clear reason, but went to sleep and woke up feeling okay.

On Wednesday morning I took the 2nd dose of the antibiotics and felt a lot worse. My chest felt a lot tighter, so I went (okay, cycled) to an urgent care centre because I was worried the infection was worsening. I also, inexplicably but adamantly, felt that something awful was about to happen: I'm very used to hospital admissions, and I had an inkling that that might have been the outcome of my appointment, but that wasn't what was worrying me - I just couldn't work out what was. I was triaged by a healthcare assistant and I can remember being really surprised that my temperature was too low rather than too high: I really thought I was septic. My blood pressure was low (but mine always is), and I was slightly tachycardic at 100-110bpm, with a respiration rate in the 60s (a healthy adult should be taking about 10-20 breaths a minute). The healthcare assistant said she was worried, and that I'd be seen next by the GP.

I went back to the waiting room, and saw a nurse in a navy uniform walking past carrying a cup of tea. I'd barely sat down before she saw me, grabbed my upper arm, and pulled the emergency buzzer whilst pushing me into a room. My memories become very hazy from here, but I remember the nurse shouting for an ambulance and the crash trolley. I've been told I then lost consciousness, that my blood pressure and oxygen saturation were unrecordable, and I was given adrenaline followed by hydrocortisone. I was blue lighted to resus at QMC, where treatment for anaphylactic shock continued.

The antibiotic I'd been prescribed was amoxicillin, a penicillin drug, and I'd had as severe an allergic reaction as it's possible to have whilst still being alive to tell the tale. I've taken penicillin numerous times before with no issues, but this time was obviously one time too many. Whilst I appreciate that adrenaline undoubtedly saved my life and is a very useful drug; it's also a bloody horrible drug in terms of side effects! In the hours following it my resting pulse was >130bpm, I was uncontrollably shaking, and I just wanted to rip off my monitoring equipment and go for a run.

I recovered very quickly, and it didn't take me long to get home. The upshot is: I now carry an epipen, and absolutely must not take any penicillin drug - which is an issue as a neutropenic! This means I need to be seen again by haematology to discuss G-CSF a bit more seriously, and also immunology to try to work out what happened!

Summary: it all sounds scary, and it was bit touch and go, but it's all fine now!

Love Emily x

Venice, Italy

Wanting to squeeze one last trip into my mid-20s (I'm 27 now!), I set off to Venice last weekend. We flew from East Midlands to 'Venice Treviso' airport, which is not even slightly close to Venice. Treviso airport was interesting: it was in the arse end of nowhere and smaller than Sywell airfield (probably). We hopped on a bus - which ad-libbed its route and timetable - and (a not inconsiderable time later) arrived in Venice.

The walk from Venice's coach station to our hotel provided the first point of tension in mine and Darryl's relationship: Google maps gave us sound directions but awful GPS tracking, meaning we'd follow directions along a canal, but then the blue dot would dart off and tell us we were hundreds of meters away from where we thought we were, so we'd alter our directions to get back to the route, only for the blue dot to skip back to where it was minutes ago. This happened multiple times, and only would have been mildly annoying, except it was raining, hard, my umbrella had inverted itself, and Darryl was having to pick up a heavy suitcase every 15 metres to go over a bridge.

All's well that ends well, though, and after a shower we were in better moods and ready to explore. Over the next couple of days the weather improved, we found a bar which served some surprisingly decent wine for €1.50 a glass, another one where 800ml was a standard serving of beer, and a pretty good selection of vegetarian and vegan food. We did the obligatory touristy stuff (Rialto bridge, Doge's Palace, St Mark's Bell Tower & Basilica), and ventured out onto the canals and into the lagoon on a kayak. It was the first time Darryl had ever picked up a paddle, and we only hit a few other boats.

Since my last post I've been seen by haematology again, and had another U-turn of opinion, and the decision was made to not start G-CSF treatment. Given that this means I won't need to be thinking about fridge storage for these injections, I've booked a few weeks travelling through India and Nepal in September, with a couple of days stopover in Dubai on the way back. I'll be making my way from Delhi to Kathmandu, via Jaipur, Agra, Orchha, Varanasi, Lumbini, Chitwan and Pokhara. I'll be going through the Himalayas and plan to do hot air ballooning/paragliding/a flight around Everest - can't wait!

Love Emily x