The past few weeks have been some of the toughest of my life! So, I thought now would be the best time to sit down and tell you about it all and why I have been so quiet around here! Grab a cup of tea and let’s begin! Oh and you might want a few super tasty biscuits to dunk during this too aha!

Good Morning Lovelies, 

I thought I would come on here today and share what has been happening with me recently. August has been one of the toughest of my life to say the least and I hope to never live through it again. However, I have to admit that it has made me a whole lot stronger. 

Just before we entered the month, I found myself suffering from an out of the blue cough. One that brought up a little blood. I had never experienced anything like it before, so I bravely booked an appointment with my local asthmas nurse. As someone with a huge fear of doctors, nurses and any healthcare facilities, I was in full on panic mode. Especially when my appointment was changed to see the actual doctor. 

Going on my own, I dreaded every second of it. However, both the doctor and the receptionist who came in with me, due to me having had a panic attack in the waiting room were fantastic. After a huge examination, he couldn’t see anything and believed it was my asthma getting mixed up with a huge case of sinusitis. I was prescribed a spray to use and set out taking it right away. He made me promise though that if anymore blood appeared that I had to do a chest x-ray. 

Leaving the surgery, I was okay, until I got home where I coughed up a lot of blood. This left me a little bit breathless, but oddly like I had cleared out what was blocking it. Waking up the next day, I was fine all morning, until around 12pm, when I coughed up a little more. It was then and there that I decided to just go for the x-ray to be safe. 

Turning up, I found the radiology lab shut, which again caused me to panic. Mentally, I couldn’t spend a whole hour waiting in a place I truly feared. Thankfully, one of the kindest medical professionals I have ever met told me she would come off her lunch to do it to help calm me down. After the initial x-ray, she showed me an area of concern, which she felt was an infection and not something to worry about too much. She answered every question and left me feeling a lot better. 

By the next day, the radiologist and my doctor had seen the results and both agreed though that something wasn’t right. Quickly, I was asked to do a sputum culture test to check for any signs of infection, especially that of tuberculosis, whilst also being referred to the hospital for respiratory checks. 

I was told to not travel by the nurse from the hospital, who called me regularly, meaning we had to cancel our holiday. I had to spit in the pots every morning and get my mum to dash them to the doctors early for processing and I was placed on two strong antibiotics. One of which was so strong that it caused severe pill esophagitis, which I still have symptoms of. 

It was a truly intense period that left me crying every single day. I felt worse of the medicine than I did before, whilst also fearing any form of coughing. I wasn’t bringing anything else up anymore and I ended up causing a sore throat from trying. Therefore, when it came to actually seeing the consultant at the hospital I was grateful. I just wanted some answers. 

Nervously going into the room with him on my own - my mum sat outside of it just in case - we spent an hour going through all my history. From early asthma issues to more recent medical changes, he listened, advised and came up with a plan for the future. With no spit really vein produced, he told me to only do the sputum samples if I did bring anything up, as my results from the previous ones had come back normal. We then agreed that to remove the TB aspect, I would do a blood test, which would also check my liver, kidney, chloride, full bloods and HIV status. We also planned a follow up check up, CT scan, breathing analysis test and phone calls for the future three months. 

Doing the blood test right away, I had to wait a week for the results. This was very upsetting but I tried to distract myself. It was hard to see my nephew celebrate his birthday, when I was meant to be with him. So, I got stuck into some mental health guided activities to help. 

After one week, the nurse told me that the TB test was negative and my blood tests were all good, which was a huge relief. Whilst we still don’t know what is causing it, I know that the next few months will hopefully help to solve the issue. I also know that I have a fantastic medical team behind me. 

I won’t lie, I am absolutely terrified to cough now, especially if it was to bring up the blood again. However, knowing that I have been treated and will continue to be by these wonders is helping to keep me on a positive wavelength. As they say whatever will be will be! I’m here to stay lovelies, so I hope I haven’t bored you all too much aha! 

Here’s to hopefully a lot more fun on the blog, which I can guarantee is coming with Christmas on the way! 

Joey X