"Blessed to receive life-saving care"

I went into another hospital one weeknight with major chest pain and an inability to breathe normally. I was greeted by a nurse who informed me that the wait could be up to 12 hours. They also stipulated that the facility did not hand out prescription medications and when I asked them what I should do, their advice was to go home and sleep it off. They told me that if the pain had not gone away after a night's sleep, that I should go and see my GP for further medical treatment. The nurse didn't check me over and seemingly handed this advice out quite openly and without any hesitation. I didn't ask for medications and I was happy to wait but I felt they weren't welcoming to that, so I returned to my car and drove home. I struggled to sleep despite taking a double dose of sleep medication that I am taking for my mental health issues. On the next following, I continued to take more of the sleep medications as the most comfortable state was to be asleep.

I woke on the morning after and my pain was extremely bad. I couldn't bare the chest aching like it was and catching my breath was almost a mission in itself. I put my dog into my car and drove to my mother's. When I arrived there, my mother said that I looked like death warmed up and wanted to call an ambulance. I asked to leave my dog there and drove myself to the John Hunter Hospital, Emergency Department. Upon arrival, I was checked immediately with and ECG, had pain killing medication given and was booked in for an urgent chest X-ray.

When I was returned from the X-ray, I was taken to a single room where I was able to be observed in the ICU, I was admitted immediately and a patient ID band was fitted to my wrist. I was now given a much stronger pain relief and started to feel more comfortable. It turned out that the condition which I was told to go home and sleep off, by the other hospital, 2 nights previous, was an Abscess inside my right lung which which had burst and I had Pneumonia that had basically shut my right lung down. I had an infectious disease which apparently, could have killed me if I didn't come in when I did. I was checked every hour and due to the severity of the infection and the antibiotics inability to fight it off, I was sent for urgent surgery to have the the toxic abscess tissue and my lung linings removed, cleaned and drained.

After surgery, I was hospitalised for 2 more weeks and was infused with antibiotics daily. Once I was ready to go home, my sister took me to live with her for 4 weeks and a community nurse came daily to infuse my antibiotics via a Power PICC, and I am slowly getting better now. All I can really say is thank you JHH for caring and being so awesome. Your willingness to help me, saved a life and was blessed to get your care.