I THOUGHT I JUST HAD A MIGRAINE, BUT I NEARLY DIED.

I THOUGHT I JUST HAD A MIGRAINE, BUT I NEARLY DIED.

I was watching TV with my 3-year-old, Jack when I got a headache. I’m prone to migraines and I thought that’s what it was, I took a couple of paracetamol and I waited for it to pass. But it didn’t and I began to feel sick and shaky. The pain became so intense I had to get Jack to bring me wet tea towels to put across my forehead.

               The pain suddenly moved to my back and my neck became stiff. I phoned my mum to come and look after Jack and I tried to rest on the sofa. I began to projectile vomit and the night passed in complete agony. By the morning I was worse – my vision was blurred and the light was bothering me. Mum decided to phone NHS Direct for some advice. They said they were classing it as an emergency and sent an ambulance for me. They suspected meningitis and it was vital o got to hospital quickly. That’s when I really started I panic.

               I was taken to Chesterfield Royal Hospital and had a head scan which looked OK and then a lumber puncture which draws spinal fluid from the lower back. They discovered the spinal fluid had blood in it and the doctor told me I had to be transferred to The Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield. By this time I was screaming in pain and totally hysterical. I was convinced I was about to die and would not see my son again.

               At Sheffield they carried out more tests and when the consultant came back with the results I could tell by the look on his face it was bad news. He said I’d had a subarachnoid haemorrhage and needed emergency surgery. Without, I would die, with it, I had 50% chance of survival, although there was a risk of a stroke or being left epileptic. I was shaking and crying and couldn’t take it in – I was in complete fear for my life.

               That night, I was stabilised and sedated and by the time I knew what was going on, it was the next afternoon and I’d had my op. They had sealed off part of my brain with metal coils to stop the bleed. The pain was still quite bad but I was out of immediate danger. I spent two weeks in hospital and then went to stay with my parents.

               No one knows what caused the problem. After a year, my son and I were back in our home. Generally I’m fit and well but I do take medication for the pain.

               Nothing could ever have prepared me for being so ill or how I feel about it now. I’ll never get over the fact that I was just minutes from death and so close to never seeing my son again.