"A Close Shave"

Being an asthma sufferer all my life, without realising it I developed Pneumonia which caused me to be admitted to the Acute Lung Unit of the Royal Bournemouth Hospital. I received fantastic care from all the medical, nursing and auxiliary staff and after treatment I was discharged a couple of weeks later. About eight weeks later I developed what seemed to be a chest infection which turned out to be pneumonia again and my GP referred me back to hospital. Within a few days my condition worsened and I collapsed with Congestive Heart Failure and spent the next week in the ICU attached to pipes, wires and monitors, the first three or so days being, I was told, touch and go and is totally wiped from my memory. As my condition improved due to the fantastic care I received I was transferred to the Acute Lung Unit again. It was further discovered that I also was suffering with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and needed to be attached to a ventilator overnight. After a further week or so I was transferred to Papworth Hospital who are the leaders in the treatment of heart and lung conditions, where I had many tests carried out over a couple of weeks. Again, all the staff at Papworth were wonderful. It was decided that I needed to use a ventilator every night for the foreseeable future and therefore was issued with the necessary machine and an oxygen concentrater which I now use at home every night. Words cannot express how grateful I am, as is my family, for all the care and attention I received from everyone at both the Royal Bournemouth Hospital and Papworth Hospital. You quite literally saved my life, thank you seems to be so inadequate, but from the heart I do thank you all most sincerely.