The Diary of a Healed Man

The Diary of a  Healed Man

How to recover from Meningococcal Septicaemia and aftereffects.

By Vincent Ifeanyi Duru

www.thediaryofahealedmand.com

WOW Book Publishing™

First Edition Published by Vincent Ifeanyi Duru

Copyright ©2019 Vincent Ifeanyi Duru

WOW Book Publishing™

ISBN: 9781699148808

All rights reserved. Neither this book, nor any parts within it may be sold or reproduced in any form without permission.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. 

The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

The purpose of this book is to educate and entertain. The views and opinions expressed in this book are that of the author based on her

personal experiences and education. The author does not guarantee that anyone following the techniques, suggestions, ideas or strategies will become successful.

The author shall neither be liable nor responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book.

Table of Contents

Testimonials

Foreword.

Acknowledgement.

Note to The Reader.

Chapter 1

My Life Before Meningitis

My Background

Life as a Seminarian.

Change of Plan.

Grafting as a Peasant.

Chapter 2.

The story of my life.

Few days to comatose.

Visit to the General Practitioner.

The Wedding at Lincoln.

The fall at work and the media attention.

The last minute 999 call out.

My friend John!

Chapter 3.

The devastation was real.

Differential Diagnosis and Early Diagnoses.

The Collateral Damages.

The Crisis & Attempt to Contact my Family.

More Tests & Diagnosis of Actual Illnesses.

CT and MRI Scans.

The Lumbar Puncture.

Chapter 4.

When Meningitis and Septicaemia strike!

What is Meningitis & what types are there.

What is Septicaemia? More explanations

The Physical Manifestation of Meningitis and Septicaemia.

Correlation of all the diagnoses.

Signs and Symptoms to look out for!!

The general symptoms of septicaemia are.

Chapter 5.

Neurological effects of meningitis and septicaemia.

The Comprehensive Diagnosis of the Cranial Nerves.

Vestibulocochlear Nerves.

Recovery/Therapy.

Testing for Hearing Loss.

Infectious Disease Control.

Ischaemic Contracture of Hands.

Gangrenous Feet.

Types of gangrene.

VIII Palsy (vestibulocochlear nerves paralysis).

Initial Complications of my Sickness.

Emotional Warfare.

The Crazy Shit!

How the Rectal Suppositories was administered to me.

Anger and Blame.

Hallucination and Endless Nightmares.

Fatigue.

Depression.

Confusion.

Anxiety.

Battle of Faith.

Substantial Change of Personality.

Memory Loss.

Hearing Loss and Balance Issues.

Scared.

Trauma.

Weight Loss.

More Complications…keep them coming!

Tinnitus.

Loss of sense of taste.

Chapter 6.

Coming to terms with the Personality Changes after Meningitis and Septicaemia.

Looking for possible explanations.

The mourning- old things have passed away

Dying to the Flesh.

Confronting the Unexpected Changes that come with Meningitis and Septicaemia.

Requested for Psychological Input.

Acceptance and Gradual Build of Trust in 

the Medical Personnel.

Deal with your demon’s head on.

Forgiveness.

Give it your best and be positive.

Challenge your set of beliefs.

Count your Blessings and Appreciate.

The Physio & Occupational Therapy Input.

Chapter 7.

Oh, my days in hospitals & rehabilitations.

The Marvellous Power of Sub consciousness.

Ashford Hospital.

St. Georges Hospital Tooting London.

Life at McEntee Ward of ST Georges.

Palliative Care.

Pain team.

The Physio and Occupational Therapists.

The Counsellor/Psychologist.

The Chaplain.

Chapter 8.

The Audiological Management of My Deafness.

How Bacterial Meningitis Caused My Sensori-Neural 

Deafness.

More Hearing Tests and Hearing Aids.

Hearing Loss Explained.

More Progress Recorded…Rays of Hope!

Assessment Process for Cochlear Implant.

The Sunken Titanic...! What, A False Hope After All?

Chapter 9.

My Necrotic Wound Management & Surgeries.

No Pain- No Gain.

Let the Surgeries Start!!!

Oh, It’s Gloomy News, I Am Afraid!!

The Ultimate Discussion and Decision.

Visit to The Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton.

Maggot Therapy Explained.

The Uses.

Chapter 10.

The Big Pre-Operative Preparation.

The Flap Used.

Surgical Principle.

Nitty Gritty of the Surgery.

Anatomy.

Vascular Anatomy.

Flap Harvest.

On the Recipient Sites.

Post-Operative Details.

The Healing Process.

Chapter 11.

Rehabilitation following the Reconstruction Operation.

I Wish I could Dance with My Mother Again!

Chapter 12.

Mundane stuff.

Failed Attempt for An Untimely Discharge.

Painful Birthday … Surprising Package from The Nurses.

Moments of Embarrassment… Do A Pooh!

Housing Palaver SORTED .

Austin’s Text.

Shit!!! Accidents Happen.

Chapter 13.

More Complications on The Way… Pericarditis.

Chapter 14.

More Disappointing News!!!

Oh Shirley! What a Plonker!!

Lots of Love and Support Groups.

Royal Association of Deaf People (Rad).

Deaf Positive Organization.

Independent Complaints Advocacy Services (Icas) through POhWER.

Action Against Medical Accident (AvMA).

Chapter 15.

Then the Cochlear Implant Surgery is Here.

What is the Cochlear Implant?

Surgical procedure.

L-I-F-E G-O-E-S O-N.

Chapter 16.

General Rehabilitation at Queen Mary’s Roehampton.

Another Setback!

What is MRSA?

What is Staphylococcus Aureus?

How the MRSA Bacteria Became Resistant?

To Antibiotics.

Symptoms.

How Do Patients Get MRSA?

Diagnosis.

Decolonization Of MRSA.

Treatment.

Prevention.

THE DAY MY WORLD STOOD STILL.

Chapter 17.

Finally Moved to Rehabilitation Centre—Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton.

At Queen Mary’ Hospital Rehab Unit.

The goals.

Treatment.

Exercises.

Chapter 18.

The Activation of the Cochlear Implant.

Waiting Period.

Ready for the Activation.

Disappointment Scare.

Describing the Sounds.

The Adjustments Explained.

Most Comfortable Loudness.

Threshold of /Perception.

IDR.

Mixing Ratio.

Automatic Gain Control.

Other Adjustments.

Chapter 19.

The General Effects of My Illnesses and Problems Encountered.

Cognitive Problems.

Emotional Problems.

Physical Problems.

Neurological Problems.

The Phantom Limb Pain.

Mechanisms.

New Treatments.

Vestibular Disorder/Dysfunction.

Performing the HTT.

In My Case.

The Symptoms of Vestibular Disorder on Me.

Dizziness Caused by Vestibular Disorders.

Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex.

The Vestibulo-Spinal Reflex.

What is Bilateral Vestibulopathy?

How Bilateral Vestibulopathy Affected My Life?

Proprioceptive Deficit.

The Arches of the Foot.

The Propulsive Action of the Foot.

The conditions of my feet & implications.

Vestibular Rehabilitation.

Acute (immediate) compensation.

Chronic (long-term) compensation.

Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy.

Rehab Sabotage.

Chapter 20.

Home Visit for ADL Assessment.

Rehabilitation Continued.

Static quadriceps.

Inner-range Quads.

Hip adduction lying sideways.

More Support from Friend.

Podiatry Department Input.

The Orthotic Department Input.

Chapter 21.

Re-integrating into the society again & yes, I can.

It’s Time to Say Goodbye to The Hospital!

Heston House.

Cerebral Palsy.

Chapter 22.

Re-integrating back to the society.

The Burglary Incident.

The Woes Keep Coming.

My Existentialistic Approach. What an Irony!!

The Internet/Virtual Vehicle Scam…More Troubles, 

Keep Them coming.

Chapter 23.

More Surgeries, More Pressures.

Heston House Management Tactically Ejected Me.

Chapter 24.

A Search for Closure.

Chapter 25.

Opinions/Prognoses on my Conditions.

Going Back to my Roots.

Starting Up a Family.

Get help from peer mentoring and support groups.

Work with your rehabilitation team and therapists.

Work out your next career step.

Counselling is very important.

Focus on the positives.

Impact of meningitis & septicaemia on the family/relationships of the sufferer.

Bibliography.

Testimonials

Vincent is a true fighter. He went through some horrible experiences but refused to give up under the pressure. His book offers a fantastic opportunity to understanding the experience of meningitis survivor and related aftereffects. It is an inspiring piece of work.

—John Offor. Aldi Stores Deputy Manager,

Chelmsford, UK

The Diary of a Healed Man is a wonderful and beautifully written personal encounter and journey of a meningitis survivor. Vincent really demonstrated his resilience of character and power of positivity.

—Fr Vincent Obinna Otunwa, Salesian Pontifical University, Rome, Italy

This book left me speechless. How could someone not crack under the stress of such enormous disabilities? This story is so inspirational. It would make a great gift to anyone going through difficult situation. It’s so amazing and uplifting.

—Christian Ekwomadu. Social Worker, Greater Manchester, UK.

Foreword

Dear reader, the book ‘The Diary of a Healed Man’ is a wonderful account of a man who has gone through the most painful experiences of his life and refused to be defined by it. We all go through life and have it throwing at us all sorts of challenges.

Some people easily succumb to the pressures of life, while some people stand tall against all odds to make something out of it all.

Vincent is a remarkable character. He is a very inspiring young man and one of the strongest persons I have ever met in my life. Regardless of all his disabilities as a result of meningitis and septicaemia, he remains upbeat and positive.

The Diary of a Healed Man is a very touching story of a life against all odds. I believe that anyone who reads this book would be encouraged to keep being positive while facing their life challenges. It is not what happened to us that defines us but how we react to what happens to us that makes us who we are.

If you have undergone, are undergoing or know someone who is undergoing a life-changing experience at the moment, I would recommend extending that person a gift in the form of a copy of this book.

—Vishal Morjariah International Speaker and Award-Winning Author

Acknowledgement

It has been an amazing journey putting my experiences into a book. I would like to express my very great appreciation to an award-winning author, Vishal Morjariah, for his contributions in making the writing of this book a reality.

It has been an absolute dream to put my one in a lifetime experiences into a book. I want to thank ‘my book angel’ Pauline Barrath and WOW publishing company for their painstaking effort and assistance in proofreading, formatting, editing and getting this book readily available.

I wish to acknowledge the valuable contributions of the reviewers regarding the improvement of quality, coherence, and content presentation of chapters of this book. I want to use this opportunity to thank those who played important roles during my sickness and afterwards. I want to especially thank my previous boss, Chief Chris Onumonu and John Offor, for their special care and love before, during and after my period of illnesses. I am so indebted to these two in a special way. They were my next of kin, my closest relatives in this country.

I equally thank Rev. Fr. Dr. Venatius C. Oforka for his invaluable support all through my hospitalization. I extend the same gratitude to my friends like Emeka and Frank Ebere, Innocent Ikenta and all others who visited and encouraged me throughout my ordeal. I would not have known where I would have been without them in my life.

I acknowledge the efforts of all the NHS medical professionals of St. Peters Hospital Chertsey, St. Georges Hospital London and Queen Mary’s Hospital Roehampton and other hospitals who contributed to saving my life and helping my recovery process.

I want to also thank Drs Catharine Milroy of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery department, Robert Harris, David Selvadurai, and Dhaval Mehta of the Audiology department and the nurses of St. Georges Hospital London and Dr. Soori of Queen Mary’s Hospital. Your pieces of advice on best course of treatment were spot on and your records were as accurate as ever. I appreciate your time and explanation when I needed them.

I would like to thank my most helpful legal team for helping me get closure on things and for their advocacy. Special thanks to the staff of Kingsley Napley LLP, Bar Henry Witcomb, Kate Rhodes, Bridget Hughes, Simon Hardy and you all. Finally, I wish to acknowledge my beautiful wife Queenlynda, my daughter Aubrey, my family, cochlear implant and meningitis survivor communities for their encouragement and support during my recovery and their help in the process of writing this book.

I also acknowledge you for receiving this book, reading it and getting inspired in the most positive way by it.

Note to The Reader

The information, including opinions and analyses, contained herein is based on the author’s personal experiences and is not intended to provide professional advice.

The author and the publisher make no warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, applicability, effectiveness, reliability or suitability of the contents. If you wish to apply, appropriate or follow the advice or recommendations mentioned herein, you take full responsibility for your actions. The author and publisher of this book shall in no event be held liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from the use of any of the information contained in this book.

All content is for information only and is not warranted for content accuracy or any other implied or explicit purpose.

Chapter 1

My Life Before Meningitis.

Never continue in a job you don’t enjoy. If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined. —Johnny Carson

My Background

My name is Vincent. I was born the last baby to a family of seven. I have six older siblings (three boys and three girls). So, I am the baby of the family. The circumstances surrounding my conception could be described as accidentally on purpose. I was conceived when my mother was forty-seven years old and my father was fifty-six.

So, I was pretty much a child of old age. My mother would always tell me that she took a risk by carrying my pregnancy to term given her age and would not listen to advice by her friends to abort me. She was smitten by me when I was born, and she made no effort to hide it from my siblings. She told me that she promised to God during my birth that she would offer me up as a sacrifice to serve him at his alters.

At the time of my birth, four out of my six older siblings have left the family. Two of the girls were married and two of the boys have gone out to establish themselves and so were out of direct parental control. Growing up as a kid was not easy for me though.

My mother was busy with her business commitments and would leave me with my immediate elder brother. The last girl of the family left the house to stay with one of my married sisters. So, I pretty much grew up with only one elder brother. My mother would make it up to me by buying me gifts.

I grew up as a kid thinking that my older brothers and sisters were my uncles and aunts. I didn’t have that bond of closeness with them. I would see them a couple of times during the year.

My mother started off making me to realize her promise to God at my tender age and did all she could to channel me towards religious commitments. She would always make it her prayer point and top in her wish-list that God would accept me to serve him in his alters during our usual family night prayers.

So, I kind of grew up knowing my mother’s intentions for me. I worked hard to fulfil her promise to God. I love my mother and would do anything for her. So, I kind of got on with it. To fulfil this objective, I went into the minor seminary at a tender age. My mother was over the moon when I went to the seminary. At least I was on course to her desired intention for me. That increased her love for me more.

Life as a Seminarian

Growing up in the seminary environment was though at the time. It was challenging to live in a boarding school, outside your familiar environment. But I had a competitive spirit. I quite carved a niche for myself as young as I was then. My studies progressed to the major seminaries where I spent four years and bagged two degrees in philosophy. I then proceeded to theological studies at Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu, Nigeria.

During my philosophy days, my encounter with different schools of thought made me wary of what life option I have made. It started creeping into my consciousness that priesthood would not be the best option for me in life. I would not be happy to live all my life on earth as a priest.

The desire to leave the seminary grew with time. But I lacked the gut and balls to make my intention of leaving the seminary clear to my family. I knew that it would hurt my mother’s feelings and the entire family in general. I was already envisaged as a priest in the making.

People would treat me with exceptions. My life on the outside was all a mother could wish for her child. But in the inside, I would grapple with the conflict of intentions going on within. How could I live my life the way I felt without disappointing my family? It was a very big battle to engage in.

I knew that leaving the seminary would not be an option that my family would want me to take but becoming a priest would not be an option for me either. I was really depressed by the situation. I would always think that the pain of upsetting my family was way greater that the pain of living the life of priesthood.

So, this thought would always push me to try and accept priesthood as the will of God for me. I tried all I could as a seminarian to enjoy the religious life, but my mind would not be at peace with me. I tried to go extra miles, do extra things and extra commitments to convince myself to become a priest. In all these, the pain of still being in the seminary was too much. It was a lost battle for me.

As years passed by, I was thinking of how to cope with my life’s situation. The hardest part for me was deciding how I was going to deal with the question of what I would do if I left the seminary. I would not just leave the seminary without having a plan B. It would not go down well if I withdrew from the seminary only to be sitting around the house. I knew that no one would support me if I dared to leave.

My older siblings were all married now with their family to look after. My dad is dead, and my mother is way too old to support me. I was faced with a dilemma. What would I do? Leave the seminary and run the risk of losing my family’s support or become a priest and live the rest of my life regretting my decision. I was losing my mind.

While my ordination as a priest was approaching, I was torn into two; leave or stay to priesthood. I was shitting myself. Where do I start rebuilding my life if I leave? I was not getting any younger; my mates out there were married then with their family and business on course. I was entrapped.

I told the rector of the seminary and my diocesan vocation director. Both gave me the same answer—it is a vocation crisis. They advised me to proceed to priesthood. It would resolve with time, they said. But I was not convinced. I decided to tell Venatius, a priest friend about the raging war that was tearing me apart on the inside, my indecisions and my crises.

My friend asked me to pray hard over it and decide, whichever way I chose, he would support me. I was encouraged to make a decision that would affect the rest of my life on earth.

Change of Plan

After much time of reflection and soul searching, I decided to withdraw from my journey to priesthood after 16 years in the seminary in 2007. I left at the age of 29 to start a new life. As my priest friend promised, he stood by me. He took me in and made my problems a priority to him. I decided to get a job and rebuild my life. But it was so difficult for me because I was so naïve in the secular life. My family members were not happy with me and people looked at me with disappointment.

Then it dawned on me that I needed to develop skills if I would survive outside the four walls of religious life. I took the bull by the horn. I decided to leave that environment and establish myself in a faraway environment where people didn’t know me, and my family’s poison would not catch up with me. With the help of my priest friend, I travelled to England in February 2008 to further my education.

Grafting as a Peasant

I was very naïve to an ordinary day-to-day life outside the walls of the seminary. All my energy was spent on psychological preparations of leaving the seminary all along. I did not prepare myself to face the life as a young independent circular individual. Then it dawned on me the realisation that it takes a lot to be a man.

It was a very difficult moment for me to survive as a student squatting with a friend in the city of London, without money or job and bearing in mind that I would have to pay back the money I loaned for my school fees within a recorded time.

My initial plan was to find a job, work while studying at the same time. That would help me sustain myself as well as focus on building a life I had dreamt for myself while enjoying my new-found freedom as an ordinary man.

But it hit me like a ton of bricks when it was impossible for me to get a job in the UK for over a month regardless of my double superlative first degree certificates, a first class certificate in a further postgraduate and a couple of diploma certificates in classic languages.

I had to start from the scratch to building myself up. I took up some menial jobs like binman, cleaning job, security guard etc. I had no choice really, later on, I was able to sustain myself and took a conversion studies in Business Administration in Britain after which I was employed as an Office Administrator/Personal Assistant to the director of a company here in UK since 2009.

Chapter 2

The story of my life

Time and health are two precious assets that we don’t recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted. —Denis Waitley

Few days to comatose

It all started in the beginning of October 2011. I lived in Feltham in the London borough of Hounslow. It all started out with flu-like symptoms.

The typical seasonal flu: the headaches, the nausea, high temperatures and all. But after a couple of days, it twisted to something serious. I didn’t really know what it could be, but the symptoms kept overstepping the normal boundaries of the typical flu with such a massive sour throat.

This is something that I rarely experienced in my entire life. The sore throat could not allow me to eat or even to swallow simple things like saliva and fluids properly. A couple of days after came the fever. It always returned during the evenings while my body temperature would shoot over the ceiling.

Whoooah! What’s going on? I asked myself. Is this an ordinary seasonal flu or some health complication? Ever since I moved to this part of the borough in 2010, I had never gone to surgery or had any appointment to see my GP because I had been enjoying good health.

I remembered that a couple of weeks earlier, I had got a telephone call from my registered surgery asking me to come in for a quick medical check; I politely turned it down because I was as fit as the fiddle.

And so, in this health quagmire I found myself, I phoned the surgery and requested for an opportunity to come in and have a quick health check. On October 11, I went to the surgery and was attended to by a nurse sister by the name of Lucy. Lucy was the first person to draw my attention to the possible health problems I might be having.

My blood pressure at the time was high and so was my body temperature. She did ask me whether I had any pronounced health problem or stress. I told her that I had not got enough sleep and that might be the possible cause. I asked her for a blood test to check my cholesterol level. That was the only outstanding health issue I was aware of.

I was told previously in 2010, by my then GP, Dr. Nijjar, that my cholesterol level was high. He suggested some natural ways to get it lowered including more exercise, dieting and good lifestyle. Dr. Nijjar told me then, that if I could lower it through my diets and exercises, it could the best way to go. After helping me with some diet plans, I did try to stick to the plan.

He told me to go for another test in a year’s time to see how far I could realistically have succeeded on my own, without the cholesterol-lowering medication. If the level did not change, then I could go for some statin medications. And so, I decided to enrol myself and start out with regular exercises at my local gym.

Because of this medical condition, I had decided on my own to research and read up as much as I could about cholesterol and the damages it could cause to the human body. Then I realized that someone with high cholesterol could be easily susceptible to major coronary diseases like stroke, heart attack, angina, arterial blockage and other related illnesses.

The fear of the high possibility that I could suffer from one or some of the above-mentioned diseases acted as a kick on my backside. It served as a motivation to beat my cholesterol naturally without the help of medications. And so, for the next one year and a couple of months, I totally abstained from eating red meats, butters, spreadable, and high saturated fat diets.

As a teenager, I had a traumatic experience with stroke in my family. My dad had a couple of stroke episodes as well. He was rushed to many different hospitals at different times, but eventually he didn’t survive it. My dad’s sickness left the whole family in a deep financial crisis. During his hospitalization, a member of the family would always be with him, to minister and help with his personal hygiene. Each member of the family spent time in turns, in the hospital with him. I could still remember the inconveniences it caused some of my siblings having to leave off their families just to minister to our dad in the hospital.

I would never forget the extent of damage and stress this sickness did to my dad physically, emotionally and psychologically. He was like divided symmetrically. One part of his body was intact while the other part was so twisted, lifeless, paralyzed and useless. My dad could not feed himself, clean, speak properly or help himself in any way. It was a sorry sight. His lips were so twisted to the right side of his body. I would always weep silently each time I watched him struggle.

As an eyewitness to what a deadly coronary disease could do to the human body, the last wish for me was to not relive the sad experiences my dad had with stroke. I would have to live hunted by cries, tears, tantrums, moans and frustrations just like my dad went through during his ordeal. I would always feel embarrassed whenever any of my friends would come around our house because the stench was too much to handle. So that experience had a profound effect on me.

You could imagine how religiously I had to follow my diet plans and exercises in order to elude the grasp of any coronary disease. I would do some crazy 16-18 hours shifts daily and would still make out time between 12:30 - 2:30 AM in the early mornings before I would head for home to get a 5-hour sleep. This was my daily routine for 6 months until I moved out the area.

So, when I was with Lucy for the routine check-up at my surgery, I remembered that it has been over a year since I had the last test to check my cholesterol level. I requested for one, but she gave me several reasons why she would not grant it. First, I had already eaten that morning, and secondly it was not within her remit to authorize a test. She asked me to book an appointment with my GP. Only then would the test be prescribed and carried out. I took her advice and went home.

On the following morning, October 12, 2011, just as Lucy advised me, I phoned up my surgery and booked for an appointment to see my GP. The appointment was incidentally scheduled for Tuesday October 18, 2011. The symptoms kept increasing and my health kept deteriorating. I would wonder what sort of flu I could be having.

Visit to the General Practitioner

My appointment with the GP was at 9 AM. It normally took me some five minutes to drive down to the surgery. So, I took my time to get prepared for work. I had planned to proceed to work after I was done with the GP. I left my house at 8:50 AM, hoping to get to the surgery at 8:57 AM at the latest. As soon as I hit the high street, I was greeted with gridlock traffic.

The cause of this traffic disruption was the ongoing road reconstruction along the high street. When I realized that it would be near impossible to get to the surgery in 10 minutes, I tried to contact the surgery and explain my predicaments and request that the patient who would be going after me could swap with me. But unfortunately, no one picked the phone. So, when I could not deal with the traffic anymore, I parked my car at a supermarket along the high street and completed the rest of the journey on foot.

I eventually got to the surgery 5 minutes behind the time. By then, I realized that someone has already gone in to see the doctor (GP). I had to wait for the next 30 minutes before I was invited in by a stern-looking Indian lady. Right inside her office, she immediately made it clear to me that she got only 5 minutes to spend with me.

I started by telling her that I had a whole lot of health problems, to which she retorted immediately that she could only do 5 minutes, that’s it. Her countenance and mannerisms were so off-putting and unprofessional. I could see that she could not hide her anger towards me for coming late. My effort to explain things to her was met with deaf ears and seemed to fuel her anger even more.

I then sat down and started telling her what symptoms I have been going through, the neck pains, fever, sore throat, headache and a host of others. Dr. Wadiddi started off by telling me that October was the time for seasonal flu. And so, mine should be no different. She said that I could have got vaccinated before then. Now that I have had the flu, I could not do that anymore until next flu season.

She told me that the fever and blood temperature issues were as a result of the body immune system fighting off the bacteria. Concerning my neck pain, she asked about my sleeping habit and the position of my head. She told me that some pain killers could do a better job. She advised me to get some over the counter flu medication as there are many at the off licenses and supermarkets.

Dr. Wadiddi did not examine me but dealt with me quickly. She did not ask me to move my neck. When I mentioned that I had high blood pressure, she abruptly said, Who told you that?

I explained that the Practice Nurse had recently taken my blood pressure. She then looked at the computer and said that it wasn’t so high. She said that I didn’t need any medication for it, and that it was probably connected to the flu. She told me that I should ensure my fluid intake was maintained. I was gob smacked at how rude she was while attending to me and would always say you should have come in on time.

Then I asked her for a general blood test because that had been my original reason for coming. She grunted, What type of test is that? She said that there was no such thing as a general test and was visibly angry. I explained that I wanted to check my blood cholesterol level as I had been trying to bring my cholesterol level down by adjusting my diet for the past year. She then told me that I would need to book another appointment and she gave me a form authorizing it. She told me to go and book for another appointment if I really wanted to get one. It was horrible the way she treated me.

During the consultation, Dr. Wadiddi was generally unsympathetic and standoffish throughout. She just seemed irritated at the fact that I had been late. After, I felt confused and stopped short at the door, and asked her if she could at least check my blood pressure. She refused and told me there was no need for that.

I left her office and got another appointment slot e on October 25, 2011. I then went off to my job. I also bought some over-the-counter flu medication (Lemsip) and paracetamol. I frequently started taking painkillers consisting of Paracetamol, Lemsip and Neurofen, especially in the evenings and during work periods. I took as many as 6—8 doses in each 24-hour period, usually having all medications at once, consisting of two tablets of Paracetamol, two tablets of Neurofen and a sachet of Lemsip.

The Wedding at Lincoln

By October 19, my condition had escalated significantly to a serious feverish condition. It became clear to me that it might not be only the flu. On that Wednesday, I had a wedding that I needed to attend at Lincoln. It was the wedding of someone whom I regarded as a friend and treated him as such. I have already given him my word that I would stand beside him as his best man. I wouldn’t dream of missing it for the world. I could have informed him earlier before then but didn’t. So, I drove a good 2-hour drive to be with him as I promised.

While I was travelling to Lincoln, I was sure that I was not feeling fine, yet I was pushing my luck. I would not face the pain of disappointing a friend. I hate the feeling of guilt and would do all within my power to avoid such feeling. The journey was smooth sailing. But at the wedding, all I could do would be to keep praying for a quick ceremony. My body was entirely out of tune. I did tell my friend that I was feeling sick. I felt very unwell but did not want to disappoint my friend. I kept complaining to my friend how unwell I felt.

I was taking Paracetamol five or six times a day and in addition was taking Neurofen and Lemsip each time. I didn’t really look at the instructions. The medication would help and then after two or three hours the symptoms would come back. After the wedding, I didn’t wait for the reception, but just told my friend I had to go. I left at around 4:30 PM. I felt very unwell as I drove home, and for the first time noticed that I was taking short fast breaths.

The fall at work and the media attention

Having left Lincoln at dusk, I drove home as fast as the