Piia Pauliina
  • Chest infection and a collapsed lung

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    June 27th, 2009

    The week of trekking around London and Sutton from one appointment to another took its toll.  By Friday morning, I woke up feeling absolutely horrid, ill, feverish, and very short of breath.  My bedroom is on to top floor of a 3-storey house, and going up and down the stairs to the basement bathroom would make me gasp for air.  I had no appetite, and trying to eat when you cannot breath is not enjoyable.

    In the evening, Suzie came around with basket of delicious food, and she prepared me gorgeous salmon for dinner.  I tried to eat as much as I could, but it was hard.  Suzie was very concerned that the mass in my chest had grown, thus causing the shortness of breath.  By now, my heart rate was palpably high, and I was feeling very hot.  We were debating what to do, and Suzie called the Royal Marsden.  They said, I would have to go to my nearest A&E first, and if there they thought my worsened condition was cancer related, I would be brought into the Marsden.

    My nearest A&E is in Homerton hospital, and having just been there for 10 days, I was not keen to go back there.  Also, it is notorious place to be on a Friday evening.  In the end, we realised we had no other choice than to call an ambulance.

    At the Homerton, after what I believe was a six-hour wait, they found that I had developed a chest infection, and a collapsed left lower lobe.  No wonder, I was finding it hard to breathe!  I was some given antibiotics, told to rest, and drink plenty of fluids.  At least, I did not have to stay in there!

    By the next morning, the antibiotics had already kicked in, and I was feeling better.

    In the afternoon, Minna paid a taxi for Suzie and I to go to her birthday picnic in Regents Park.  It was a hot sunny day, and I thought a bit of fresh air would do me good; instead of resting at home, I could rest in the park for a couple of hours, and spend some time with friends.

    The picnic was going well.  It was lovely and sunny, great to see friends, Sarah had baked more of my favourite muffins, and Minna was entertaining us with her new hula hooping skills.

    Then it started to rain, and the temperature dropped.  First, it was not too bad, and we were not hugely affected by it under a big tree.  But then, from nowhere, the rain turned into a ‘power shower’ with the addition of large hailstones.  We all got soaked within a second.  It was not good.  I was shivering, and my lips were blue.  It was time to leave the park.

    Suzie, Sarah and I went to Minna’s who luckily lives around the corner from the park.  I jumped straight into a hot bath, after which Minna served me some delicious Finnish pea soup (hernekeitto).  I was saved!

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