THE BEST LAID PLANS AND ALL THAT

 

Saturday 31st Dec 2022 11:30pm, lights have been dimmed and music is playing softly in the background, I slowly nod my head as I remember the lyrics well:

 

‘Do you really like it, is it, is it wicked

We’re lovin it, lovin it, lovin it 

We’re lovin it like that💃🏾’

Ella says ‘only 30 minutes till the new year Ola’

My daughter Funlola is sitting to my left, Akeem my brother is sitting at my foot of the gurney, legs crossed looking at me with a poker face, while to my right Dave sticks one of those ‘thingys’ in my ear to take my temperature for the umpteenth time. 

Yep you read right ‘takes my temperature’ as the above scenario I’ve just described is taking place at the back of an Ambulance not a nightclub, sorry to disappoint y’all😩

Cut to country music accompanied by that catchy Tiktok jingle ‘How do I get myself in these situations’🤦🏾‍♀️

Dave and Ella are paramedics with East of England Ambulance service who had been dispatched to my residence earlier that evening. 

The music is Capital Xtra Reloaded giving early 2000 R n B vibes as Dave tunes the ambulance radio, lights are dim as my eyes are sensitive and oxygen is administered through a nasal cannula. I slip in and out of sleep as I’m lethargic and had been wretching violently earlier. 

We had been parked in a queue outside my local hospital all evening with about 10 other ambulances as Accident and Emergency Department is full with no available beds. Ella and Dave assure me that I’m in good hands and that they would not leave me till I’m checked in A&E no matter how many hours it takes. They make good their promise wheeling me into hospital for a chest X-ray and then back to the ambulance. 

Bloods are taken, doctors shuttling back and forth from ambulance to examine me, ask me questions with view to accurately identifying what’s wrong and prescribe the correct medication. But I’m disoriented, tired and not remembering much. 

All my needs are being met in this ambulance, Ella and Dave had been with me since 6pm that evening, they had arrived upbeat and ever so professional. I genuinely thought I was slipping away, throwing up and delirious. 111 advised that waiting times for an ambulance were 6 to 12 hours, though they arrived within 3 hours. They had hooked me up to a drip (fluids), given me anti-sickness IV, taken an ECG reading and were with me for 2 hours at my home stabilising me before eventually moving me into the ambulance. They made me feel ever so comfortable. I reluctantly mention I had just returned from Nigeria the day before as I was worried I’d be shipped off to a hospital for Tropical Infectious diseases as they use to do back in the day. I was relieved there was no change in countenance at the mention of the word ‘Africa’ rather they say in that case malaria tests would be run in addition to other blood work, no biggie. 

We ring in the New year in the ambulance and Dave starts playing Auld Lang Syne. They pop open a bottle of shloer (non alcoholic wine) and are toasting with plastic wine glasses. They were such an interesting pair. Dave is an ex police officer while Ella is a former air hostess who regularly flew the London-Lagos route and obviously had a story or 2 to tell. They spoke of how they left their previous careers for this rewarding job.  They keep my folk updated, 3 malaria blood tests are to be taken and the first one had already come back negative. Their level of professionalism is ace. I could feel their passion. I am amazed at how they balanced my care with the banter. Dave asks if I’d like one of those attention-seeking photos taken from hospital beds as there is nothing more dramatic or clout chasing than a pic taken from inside an ambulance hooked up to all those tubes😂 This pair are such a welcome distraction from the reality of what was going on. They eventually wheel me into A&E at 6am on New year’s day and we say our goodbyes, it’s been an eventful roller coaster 10 hours in the ambulance.  

So that’s why this in not a pretty picture blog post about my trip to Nigeria, as that paled into insignificance from Xmas day when I started having a feeling of unwellness. We did have an interesting trip though, on arrival in Lagos it was straight to a ‘function’ from airport!

I got to see family and friends. Watched a football match at Onikan stadium. Naija traffic was ‘trafficking’ bumper to bumper as usual. There was fuel scarcity so our boys from the trenches pave the streets of Lagos selling black market kegs of petrol.  

Every available space, building, billboard, public transport has airbrushed colourful posters of handsome Tinubu and his running mate Shettima titled ‘The Team To Reconnect Nigeria’👀

Naija currency notes were being phased out and replaced with different colour ones. I had the luxury of getting my hair done twice while there. When I turned up for my 2nd IJGB ( I Just Got Back) appointment the hairdresser took one look at me looking so ill ‘Aunti the way I dey see you so…u fit do this hair’ - a few hours later I emerge from salon with waist length braids🤦🏾‍♀️ They have been humbled though and not seen the light of day and remain wrapped in a pair of leggings on my head till date - Sickness is not their mate!

The flight back from Lagos was the longest ever despite being a direct flight it felt like we were on that plane for 40 days and 40 nights,Yemisi was also unwell.  Navigating check-in and those immigration ‘Anything-for-the-boys’ checkpoints was so tedious, magnified by the way I felt. We bump into my incorrigible friend Kenny (from my last blogpost) at the airport, she takes one look at me asking what’s wrong. 

I stand in the queue, slumped over a barrier, my ‘eyes are turning me’ I’m nauseous and I can feel the bile raising to my mouth🤢. ‘Yemisi, Yemisi I think I’m going to be sick’, too late though I start to wretch then ‘phroarrrr’ - it’s projectile as I throw up all over his shirt and floor🤮🥺    

A passenger besides us rushes to action by splashing water on my face and wiping it, this leaves one of my eyelashes dangling in the process😐 ‘Madame are you ok rinse your mouth’ while patting my back. Such kindness from a stranger, not all hero’s wear capes🥰💜 

The other passengers are left to navigate around the ‘puddle’ I’ve left on the floor as they queue. No bio-hazard cleaning team in white boiler suit to sanitise, clean and/or cordon off the area 😷 We are fast tracked through immigration after this episode though. 

Back to the matter.  

On return to the UK I spent a few days in hospital the diagnosis was Sepsis. I was pumped with antibiotics and IV fluids. I have since researched the condition dubbed ‘The Silent Killer’ well aware I dodged a bullet. Patients with suspected sepsis are assessed via a National early warning score which provides an overall score to a patients vital signs this determines speed and seniority of clinical response. TIME is of essence and an acronym used to help identify some of the symptoms

Temperature (fever)

Infection (signs of)

Mental decline, dizzy, confused

Extremely unwell, discomfort.  

The Surviving Sepsis Campaign strongly recommends that intravenous antibiotic therapy should be started within 1 hour of recognising sepsis. 

On that note Risi lives to tell another tale, truly thankful that I was able to get care quickly and I’m not taking anything for granted. I can’t help but wonder how things turned out for the patients in the other ambulances that night. 

Thanks to those who cater for my dietary needs; as the appetite slowly returns my demands are ever so specific and annoying😂

Wishing you all a Happy New Year in good health. 

💅🏾