On Monday 24th August 2020, I started to feel very breathless after my normal fitness class, very unusual but just put it down to my asthma. This carried on for the rest of the week. It really didn’t feel like my normal asthma as I had no wheeze.
By the Saturday I was feeling so unwell I called 111, thinking I maybe needed some steroids or to go onto a nebuliser. I spoke to a lovely GP who advised that I should go straight to A&E as she could hear how breathless I was.
My husband took me to A&E where I had blood tests, ECG and a chest X-ray. The doctor said he agreed with me that was probably my asthma and to book an appointment with my asthma nurse and sent me home.
I still felt quite unwell for the rest of the day and the next but continued to think ‘it must be my asthma I’ll be fine’.
However, on Sunday evening the last thing I remember saying to my husband is "I feel bloody awful!" The next thing I know and can remember is I’m in intensive care and being brought out of a induced coma a week later.
Apparently, I’d suffered a cardiac arrest due to the amount and size of a bilateral pulmonary embolism. I was put in an induced coma and most of my organs were packing up and they really didn’t think I’d make it through the night. I had the ‘do not resuscitate’ sign on me so I am really feel lucky to have this second chance.