first blog. Emily in a nutshell.

hello this is my first blog. So I apologise if it is rubbish though that would be unlikely with me being so awesome. I will start from the beginning from when before I ill. About three years ago I was fine other than having constant headaches. I lived in Anfield on my own with my lovely dog Harvey. I worked full-time in a pet shop which contrary to popular belief I did actually like. (There was one thing that I didn't like about that job, but that is not what this blog is about so we shan't go into that) I had to leave the job for a reason that the shan't go into but I was also getting terrible headaches and had started to get numbness in the left side of my body. I went to the doctors over it but they just told me that I had migraine and there possibly be anything else wrong with me because I was too young. The headaches and other symptoms were getting worse and worse. So I changed my doctors surgery. At my first appointment in my new doctors I got referred to the neurology hospital. But unfortunately the poo hit the fan before I had that appointment.I haven't been feeling too well so I went to my Mum's house for some sympathy. It was there that I had a grand mal seizure.I got taken to hospital in an ambulance. After some tests including a CT scan which came back clear I was sent home. I noticed when I got home that I could see something floating around in my eye. I booked an appointment at the opticians. A few days later I had my appointment. The operation looked in my eyes and advised me to go to St Pauls at the Royal because my optic nerves were really swollen. I asked him if he was sure and if that was possible that my optic nerves were just fat. He just said that I should go to the hospital. After going and getting examined by a specialist Docter I was sent to the neurology hospital. I had to stay in. I had lots of tests done. Finally, I had an MRI scan. It was then that they discovered I had a brain tumour. It was 10 March 2009. I had the operation to remove it on 13 March 2009. I recovered from this operation well and seven days later I was sent back home. I was okay other than being a little weak. After a few days I started feeling ill again and after collapsing I was sent back to the hospital where they discovered that I had bacterial meningitis. I had a drain put into reduce the pressure. They then did another MRI scan where they discovered that my tumour had returned. After the removal of this I was left in intensive care on a life-support machine as I was unable to breathe. I was put in a medically induced coma for a fortnight. They then performed a tracheostomy and I was woken up. I was in intensive care for three months. I was unable to speak because of the tracheostomy and that was really difficult. I was moved to a rehab unit and I was there for eight months. I will go into my time at rehab in a future blog as there is a lot to say. The rehab unit got me to a really good stage of recovery. They even managed to walk me with assistance across a room. I was discharged from the unit into a nursing home. It was a horrible place. It was dirty and the care was terrible. I was pretty much left in a bed with no therapy for three months. I will also go into my time at this horrible nursing home in a future blog as there is a lot to say. Eventually after a lot of letterwriting and fighting I got given nine months of physiotherapy. During this time of physiotherapy I moved out of the nursing home into my own bungalow with my friend/carer. My care was now good. I now have two carers who are fabulous who come in of a morning to assist me with my personal care. In April 2011 my physiotherapy got cut . In my opinion it is because of funding. My physiotherapy was reduced from five sessions of private physio to 2 sessions in an NHS physio unit. And that is my life in a nutshell. I will go into more details in future blogs. Hope you enjoyed reading. :D x

I just thought of another paragraph as I have realised there is a bit I have forgotten. Before I had my tumour removed. Before they even knew I had a tumour. I had a shunt fitted. This is a tube that goes from my brain into my stomach. I have scars are my head and on my tummy from this being fitted. It is there to drain any access fluid from my brain into my stomach. This is because I have hydrocephalus or water on the brain what ever you want to call it. I also have another shunt. I am not quite sure what this one is that there for maybe I should ask my brain surgeon next time I see him. I do have the scars to prove it though. There is a possibility that the shunts can get blocked. I hope that mine are not. But I have been getting migraine again. This worries me. I have had an MRI scan lately and I am waiting for the results. I had to be knocked out when I have scans because of my claustrophobia, but it is just more scary not knowing and waiting for the results.