Welcome and thank you for reading!
I started this blog to air my trials and tribulations of knitting whilst recovering from meningitis. But also anything else that takes my fancy... so an introduction...
Me:
My name is Rachel and I live in England, in the lovely county of Hertfordshire. I have lived here all my life, except whist completing my Masters at Coventry University.
I'm generally quite a crafty creative being; I enjoy photography, card-making, scrapbooking, anything really... More recently I have got into knitting and sewing.
I also am quite girly... I love anything hair and make up and am always varying some look or another... currently I'm rocking the glittery nail trend. It could be joked, that if I am not knitting I am doing my nails. My nails have even had mention in some very high circles ;-) and when I was taken into hospital, my dear M decided he would take a picture of me... and what stands out to me in the picture, is not the fact that I am laying in a hospital bed, hooked up to drips, but it is the fact that you can see that my nails are BRIGHT PINK!
I have a wonderful family and close circle of friends around me who I love and hold very dear to me; I am extremely lucky. I also have a very cute cat! Alas, I doubt that she will wear any knitted creations I may come up with :-)
Me and Meningitis
As mentioned, I am recovering from meningitis. Meningitis was always something that I had heard of, and yes, if I felt unwell I would check for a rash.. but it was always something that I thought would never happen to me or anyone around me.
One evening in early June I finished work late, and decided against the hour long car drive home late at night and instead booked into a local hotel. Throughout the day I had felt unwell, I had a stomach ache and felt nauseous; I attributed this to being under pressures at work and not eating, as I had no appetite. So... having booked into the hotel I finished up some emails and got into bed. My stomach ache continued to worsen, I had no painkillers with me and nor were the hotel able to supply pain relief. I made a call to my darling mother (ever the angel) who suggested I call NHS direct... which I did... there were frequent calls and call backs between midnight and 4am... it got to 4am and I was in pain in my stomach and a very bad headache, I made my way down to the front desk and pleaded with the night porter for pain killers; lucky for me he had two panadol in the car :-) so I took the painkillers and made my way (unsteadily) back to my room, and bless the night-porter, he had to help me, as by this point I was having trouble walking as my legs were like jelly but stiff at the same time; and my vision was very blurry, almost like when swimming under water. Once back in the safety of my room, I took myself to the bathroom to wash my face. It was when drying my face that I noticed a rash under my chin and down my neck, and partly across my cheeks. The rash was like nothing I had seen before, it was like tiny dark red freckles, in the brightness of the light (which was causing me pain!) I had to squint to look closer.. I picked up a tumbler and rolled it across my skin. The rash didn't disappear... With the wonders of technology now, I managed to take a picture of my rash and send to my mum, along with a message saying that I was calling the doctor back. Having spoken to the doctor, he decided to call an ambulance and I was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital A&E department.
I arrived at hospital at about 5:30am, and my parents arrived shortly after. I had IV anti-biotics setup and a fluid drip, I was given blood tests, urine tests, physical tests, chest X-ray, CT Scan, and finally a lumbar puncture. It was only after the lumbar puncture at 4pm and being moved to a ward that I was told I had viral meningitis. Stoke Mandeville hospital were exemplary in their treatment of me and I am so very thankful that they were so thorough. Viral meningitis is not treatable in any other way than rest and pain relief. I was told to have bed-rest until better. After three weeks I decided to go back to work. It was a phased return to work, however, after 6 weeks at work, I suffered food poisoning and the doctors found that I was suffering from severe exhaustion, which is where I am now. The doctor who I am seeing currently has advised that viral meningitis can affect different people in different ways. It can also affect your mental health, which it has with me. I suffer low moods and anxiety; which I did not do before meningitis. I am gradually knitting myself back to health, and if it wasn't for the love, strength and support from my friends and family, then this journey would be a lot harder.
I love them all. xxx
I started this blog to air my trials and tribulations of knitting whilst recovering from meningitis. But also anything else that takes my fancy... so an introduction...
Me:
My name is Rachel and I live in England, in the lovely county of Hertfordshire. I have lived here all my life, except whist completing my Masters at Coventry University.
I'm generally quite a crafty creative being; I enjoy photography, card-making, scrapbooking, anything really... More recently I have got into knitting and sewing.
I also am quite girly... I love anything hair and make up and am always varying some look or another... currently I'm rocking the glittery nail trend. It could be joked, that if I am not knitting I am doing my nails. My nails have even had mention in some very high circles ;-) and when I was taken into hospital, my dear M decided he would take a picture of me... and what stands out to me in the picture, is not the fact that I am laying in a hospital bed, hooked up to drips, but it is the fact that you can see that my nails are BRIGHT PINK!
I have a wonderful family and close circle of friends around me who I love and hold very dear to me; I am extremely lucky. I also have a very cute cat! Alas, I doubt that she will wear any knitted creations I may come up with :-)
Me and Meningitis
As mentioned, I am recovering from meningitis. Meningitis was always something that I had heard of, and yes, if I felt unwell I would check for a rash.. but it was always something that I thought would never happen to me or anyone around me.
One evening in early June I finished work late, and decided against the hour long car drive home late at night and instead booked into a local hotel. Throughout the day I had felt unwell, I had a stomach ache and felt nauseous; I attributed this to being under pressures at work and not eating, as I had no appetite. So... having booked into the hotel I finished up some emails and got into bed. My stomach ache continued to worsen, I had no painkillers with me and nor were the hotel able to supply pain relief. I made a call to my darling mother (ever the angel) who suggested I call NHS direct... which I did... there were frequent calls and call backs between midnight and 4am... it got to 4am and I was in pain in my stomach and a very bad headache, I made my way down to the front desk and pleaded with the night porter for pain killers; lucky for me he had two panadol in the car :-) so I took the painkillers and made my way (unsteadily) back to my room, and bless the night-porter, he had to help me, as by this point I was having trouble walking as my legs were like jelly but stiff at the same time; and my vision was very blurry, almost like when swimming under water. Once back in the safety of my room, I took myself to the bathroom to wash my face. It was when drying my face that I noticed a rash under my chin and down my neck, and partly across my cheeks. The rash was like nothing I had seen before, it was like tiny dark red freckles, in the brightness of the light (which was causing me pain!) I had to squint to look closer.. I picked up a tumbler and rolled it across my skin. The rash didn't disappear... With the wonders of technology now, I managed to take a picture of my rash and send to my mum, along with a message saying that I was calling the doctor back. Having spoken to the doctor, he decided to call an ambulance and I was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital A&E department.
I arrived at hospital at about 5:30am, and my parents arrived shortly after. I had IV anti-biotics setup and a fluid drip, I was given blood tests, urine tests, physical tests, chest X-ray, CT Scan, and finally a lumbar puncture. It was only after the lumbar puncture at 4pm and being moved to a ward that I was told I had viral meningitis. Stoke Mandeville hospital were exemplary in their treatment of me and I am so very thankful that they were so thorough. Viral meningitis is not treatable in any other way than rest and pain relief. I was told to have bed-rest until better. After three weeks I decided to go back to work. It was a phased return to work, however, after 6 weeks at work, I suffered food poisoning and the doctors found that I was suffering from severe exhaustion, which is where I am now. The doctor who I am seeing currently has advised that viral meningitis can affect different people in different ways. It can also affect your mental health, which it has with me. I suffer low moods and anxiety; which I did not do before meningitis. I am gradually knitting myself back to health, and if it wasn't for the love, strength and support from my friends and family, then this journey would be a lot harder.
I love them all. xxx
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