Plans!

I made it to Heartlands and was lucky enough to Dr Mansur, who is the consultant/unit director. I was really hoping I would get to see him as I was desperate to leave the appointment with some kind of plan in place, so I was very happy when I saw him pick up my hospital notes!

My local respiratory consultant hadn't gotten around to sending a letter with a summary of the previous 5 months, thankfully I'd thought to take copies of my recent hospital discharge summaries in case this had happened! Maybe I'm paranoid, but I feared I wouldn't be believed if I went there and said I'd had 3 respiratory arrests in the previous 5 months! It sounds so dramatic and like I'm hugely exaggerating. Anyway, I explained what had been happening over the past 5 months, what happened with the subcut trial, how much worse my asthma seems to have gotten recently, how much it is affecting my life and I'm at the point where it is being questioned whether I can continue working..... He asked whether I wanted to retry the subcut trial (as I was feeling a little ill with a cold when it started), we both agreed it would be worth another go as I only had 2 days of Terbutaline at the lowest dose as the first week was the placebo.

So the plan is, I need to be admitted to Heartlands for 2-3 weeks. We're going to redo the trial of subcutaneous infusion of terbutaline, and Dr Mansur wants to use the opportunity to do a few investigations such as a CT scan and bronchoscopy.

I've got very mixed feelings about this but I'll have plenty of time to think those through! I've got 2 weeks annual leave from work starting the day after next, so I'm looking forward to some lovely things I have planned :) 2 weeks annual leave, then straight up to Heartlands, depending on a bed being available.......