Friday 25 January 2019

Sick Note

I thought my work with my Special Needs pupil would end at Christmas, but I did the first week of term with him as well. I struggled with the early morning starts, and I seemed to have busy afternoons/evenings too, my sleep patterns were all over the place. I even got out a library book called Learn to Sleep Well.
I finished my teaching on Jan 11th and spent the weekend being very busy, at home and church - I never actually talked to Steph on the phone - just a text  'looking forward to seeing you soon'. [Rosie and co were visiting, so they were all very busy too] Monday 14th, I sent another text "On train, be with you shortly" - and she instantly replied "I thought you were coming on 28th!". We'd been talking at cross-purposes about the date of my visit! [note to self- don't just say "Arriving Monday afternoon @..." specify which Monday!] 
It seemed the best thing would be to continue my journey [with nesting tables etc] stay overnight, and  come back Tuesday [on my open return ticket] We had a great evening, and next day she went into work late, after  breakfast together at The Anthologist. I got back to Salisbury early afternoon. 
On Wednesday I was up early, did some admin, dealt with emails, did photocopying at Church, helped with Register at Tiddlers Group, and went off to Sainsburys. Then around 11.45am it all went pear-shaped. As I went to get my trolley, I suddenly had this terrible head pain- as if I'd been hit with a hammer. I staggered into the store, and collapsed on the bench in the entrance. Two staff members asked if I was OK. "I feel dreadful, my head is exploding!" I said. [Thank you Ann, Sadie, and FirstAider Sarah] Bob was fetched and I ended up in Bournemouth A&E [thank you Clinician at NHS 111, and Mim who helped with retrieval of my Toyota from store car park]
The acute pains had subsided relatively quickly, but they suspected a brain bleed. I had a CT scan and a Lumbar Puncture, and other tests. [Thank you A&E, AMU, Rosie the Radiologist, and lovely Dr Rahul who did a painless and fast LP] The night was somewhat disturbed- there were some very sick people in my Bay, at midnight, I was moved to another Bay. As my bed was wheeled out, we passed another patient coming in "There we are Christine, you won't have to spend the remainder of the night on this trolley, we have a proper bed for you now" I heard them say to her. On Thursday at 6.30am, the nurse told me all results were clear, they could find nothing wrong and I could leave. So Bob fetched me home, where I spent the rest of the day, and much of Friday doing nothing.And in the week since, I have felt better with every passing day [and night]. Thank you to all of you who have sent kind messages, both on and off the blog. I really appreciate your love and concern.[Thank you Bob, you've been amazing throughout]
Conclusions
  • Gratitude to God that there was nothing seriously wrong
  • I was much more tired than I realised, and this was a rather knockout 'wake-up call'
  • So grateful I was at home, and not away in Manchester, or on a train when it happened.
  • I do need to be more careful about sleep, and not overdoing things.
  • I no longer have the stamina I had 40 years ago, I need to listen to my body
  • Grateful to be surrounded by loving family and friends who have supported me, and prayed for me through all this rather scary experience.
Actions
  • I've told the Teaching Agency I am not available for supply work till after half term
  • Manchester trip to be rescheduled [Steph will be at Cornerstones with me in 4 weeks time anyway] 
  • I'm saying "No" much more when people ask me to do things.
  • The alarm clock is not set, so I sleep till I wake naturally [currently around 7.30am]
  • I'm cutting down on late night screen-time, and avoid caffeine after 6pm
Results
  • Less activity, more rest
  • Less stress
  • Better sleep
  • Peace of mind
So now you know!



35 comments:

  1. Scary! Glad you're ok, and taking steps to look after yourself. Sleep is much more vital than we realise, isn't it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That sounds really frightening, both for you ad the people around you. Take it a bit easier - let others do the doing for a while.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a frightening experience,it's good you got rapid help.
    Resting more and slowing down sounds the best idea.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That sounded a bit scary. I wish you well. I suspect action point three is the difficult one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are SO right Philip. It is realising that "not letting people down" includes not letting myself down, by getting overtired.

      Delete
  5. Dear Ang, what a shock for you. I am so sorry that you have had such a bad time, but you are right, we are none of us as young as we were. You do have a very busy life, so you must pace yourself now. I'll be praying for you. Rest and sleep well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grateful for your prayers Elizabeth. I do hope things are getting easier for you and M. now - I'm praying fopr you too x

      Delete
  6. How frightening for you - glad all is well and that you are taking extra care of yourself. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My goodness! That must have been very scary! I'm glad all the tests were clear, and all the other things - being where there were other people to check on you, etc. Is it possible that you might have been dehydrated, too? Do please take it easy and rest! And, pace yourself!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think dehydration is something I should consider! I am resting as much as I can!

      Delete
  8. So pleased you are okay and look after your. So glad the staff in Sainsbury took care of you and Bob was there to get you to the hospital.
    Hazel c uk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I took the First Aider in Sainsburys a gift - and she said thank you - particularly for taking the trouble to go and say I was OK. She'd been worrying about me all weekend.

      Delete
  9. HI Angela, thank goodness you are okay and I hope you are a lot more comfy now. Trouble is the inner us always thinks we can do the same that we always have. Just take time for you. Take care Tricia x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes PattyPan- we dont always listen to our inner selves when we should

      Delete
  10. Pacing yourself isn't easy when you have so much on in its own way it takes just as much discipline to rest. Hope you are feeling better and able to relax more Lesley/Martha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Relaxing - LOTS. Hope your situation is a little brighter

      Delete
  11. So glad to hear that they didn't find anything wrong - hopefully it was just the exhaustion and the fact that you are now looking after yourself better will do the trick. It's nice to know that strangers were so quick to respond and to be so kind. Please take care.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Strangers can often be angels in disguise

      Delete
  12. Glad you are ok after your horrible experience. Take care of yourself x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Chris, I will do! love to you and Paul

      Delete
  13. I'm so glad you're ok. Thank you for the reminder to still be grateful for the things that go well in the midst of "bad stuff".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Nicky. Hope all is well with you and yours x

      Delete
  14. 'Love your neighbour as yourself', which could also mean giving yourself as at least much love as you give your neighbour!
    It is a bit live 'to give is better than to receive', and then some people cannot bring themselves to receive anything, depriving others of the chance to give. A two-edged sword indeed!
    Glad it was a 'just a scare' (although it sounds very scary indeed) and not more... praying for your recovery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm learning to be grateful, and to accept help! It was scary, but could have bneen much worse. Thank you

      Delete
  15. As others have said, take care of yourself. It sounds like you've started to take action to look after yourself and your health. We're none of us as young as we used to be...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Having just celebrated my 65th birthday and entry into my 7th decade, I've decided to slow things down too and am going into 'semi-retirement' as of May. It's now time to think about myself a little more and less of spreading myself so thin that it's resulted in stomach problems and other little niggly things which could turn into handicaps as I (hopefully) retreat into really old age! I think your pain in the head was a wake up call to you to start slowing it down and I'm very glad it turned out to be not bad news, though it must have been very,very scary for you at the time. Take good care of yourself, Angela.xxx

    ReplyDelete
  17. You're right. I want to enjoy my 'golden years' and hope to spend more time being a Grandma. We'll be no help to anyone if we burn out

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ahhh, so sorry to hear you had such an experience and were so unwell. I do agree that lack of sleep really does contribute to a lot of illness and difficulties-it really is important to say no to things and to take care of yourself. I was so burnt out last term and I just know it's because I kept burning the candle at both ends- going to bed hideously late every night, saying yes to loads of extra things (and the permanent evening engineering works on my train line really were contributing to this too as I would get home about midnight from orchestra rehearsals and concerts or worse, when I might have been home an hour earlier). Take care of yourself..xxx

    ReplyDelete
  19. P.S. I'm really sorry I am not so regularly commenting on your blogposts- I've always read and commented on your blog on the train and some weird idiosyncracy or change or SOMETHING to do with my phone means it doesn't give me a comment box on your blog if anyone else has commented- only if no one has-it's deeply frustrating!!! I can't even READ Sophie in the Sticks' blog on my phone now since she'd made some change as it won't even load. Perhaps, as my family have been saying for the past 5.5years that I have been using this archaic Smartphone, that it's time I get a new one but the thing is, I am used to it and it's so robust, that when I drop it, EVEN onto concrete, the back falls off, the battery falls out (and then it resets the date mysteriously to January the 6th 1980, goodness knows why...) and then I put it back together (and reset the date). I know no one would want to steal it and well, it works so that's important!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Sorry you are having problems. I reluctantly had to change my ancient phone in November after it stopped working properly. Have a good week Kezzie

    ReplyDelete
  21. I’ve only just seen this post because I was really busy over the weekend.im so glad it was nothing serious but you did the right thing in being checked out at hospital. Take care and catchup on your rest. X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Resting doesn't come naturally, but I'm doing my best. Typing this at 10:15am, still in my pjs. If I delay getting dressed, I find I take the morning more slowly.

      Delete

Always glad to hear from you - thanks for stopping by!
I am blocking anonymous comments now, due to excessive spam!