I realised I hadn't really done a post about being diagnosed and how everything happened and what it was like and to be honest I don't really like thinking about it as it was one of the most traumatic experiences ever but I wanted to write about it...
For a few weeks leading up to diagnosis I'd had flu like symptoms, it got quite bad so I didn't go into sixth form and stayed off for about a week or so, I never really had headaches before that like leading up to it, it was all very quick, so at this point I was complaining of flu like symptoms and excruciating headaches, we went to the doctors and after explaining what was wrong they thought that I had infected sinusitis, I was given antibiotics, when the course of antibiotics was over and I still wasn't better we went back to the doctors. The left side of my face had started to droop just before we got to the doctors and so when we got there Bell's palsy was queried, the doctor sent us to our local hospital, I had bloods taken and was on a drip with fluids and they were still unsure of what was actually wrong, I was very photophobic (couldn't stand the bright lights) as my head was hurting too much with an awful headache, later on I had a CT scan and after, a doctor said he'd take us somewhere private to talk about the results, I thought to myself it's not going to be good but I just waited. They told me and Mum that the scan showed a lump on my brain- a brain tumour, me and Mum were both obviously in shock and I remember crying a lot but Mum was there to comfort me as she has been every single day. We stayed overnight in that hospital but at about 4am/5am we were blue lighted (taken in an ambulance) up to the Royal Victoria Infirmary because it is a centre of excellence and had everything that I needed there so it was where I needed to be. It was a bit of a drive but I just tried to sleep and take my mind off it all, I went straight in for an MRI scan when we got to the RVI.. it was awful, I was in there an hour and a half and it was so scary as it was the first time I had been in one and I hadn't really had chance to prepare myself as it was all so quick. Mum sat at the end of the bed and held my feet which comforted me. The staff knew how scared and upset we were and they were there for us and really helped us. I still couldn't stand the bright lights. We stayed on the neurology ward and over the next few days there was a lot of talk about surgery and I was told I needed to have it as soon as possible, I met the neurological surgeon and my consultant oncologist who talked us through everything and couldn't have been more helpful, I had a few days on the neurology ward and I was trying to come to terms with everything and prepare myself for surgery, I had always had a fear of cannulas and ever having to have an operation so I was extremely scared and worried. But the day came and I did it, and that's how my journey with cancer and Darren Lee (tumour) started
No comments:
Post a Comment