Tuesday, 29 April 2008

• I nearly died!

  Every year I get vaccinated against the flu. Being a healthcare worker and also an asthmatic it is really important that I don't get the dreaded flu so I make it a point to get the jab. In recent years Dr's have been increasingly reluctant to give me the jab as I have more and more allergies: Latex, chicken feathers, and penicillin. Last year a had a slight reaction to the flu jab, so this year I was admitted into the emergency department of the hospital where I work and into Resus! How embarrassing, all for the flu jab. Anyway before I had the jab I had steroids and antihistamines to help prevent me have a reaction.

  So jab went the nurse and I got itchy, not too bad, just my mouth, ears, face, head, chest, back, arms legs. No rash though just itchy. I went back to work after a few hours still itchy and took a mega dose of antihistamines when I got home and went to bed. Saturday the itching was less but I started getting a little tight in the chest and needed more ventolin than usual. Sunday, well the shortness of breath got worse and by Sunday night I really considered that I needed to go back to the emergency department, but being a head strong (read stupid) asthmatic I stayed home sucking on ventolin until I could breathe with reasonable ease.

  Monday I went to work and got increasingly short of breath throughout the day, by lunchtime I could only talk in one and two work sentences. Not Good......

  So back down to the emergency department, straight into resus and continuous ventolin nebs for the next 4 hours and a magnesium infusion saw me stable enough to transfer to the respiratory failure unit.

  I spent a few days in hospital and then came home, I have to go see an immunologist now to see what I am going to do about the flu jab next year. It will be a brave soul who jabs me next time, and I'm not sure I want to go through that again.

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