"My emergency trip to Joondalup Hospital"

I had been feeling really tired and generally unwell for 4 days, and thought I just had a virus. I had no cold or flu-like symptoms, so I just slept a lot and hoped it would go away.

Late one night I couldn't catch my breath while I was lying in bed. I barely slept at all, and towards the end of the night I was hyperventilating and vomited when I got out of bed, falling almost 3 times just to get a bucket from the bathroom. I couldn't even shout out to my adult daughter for help.

So around 7am I called the ambulance and within 10 minutes they turned up. I could barely tell them what was wrong because I had no breath. I remember they helped me into a wheelchair and took me outside. Everything was bright yellow like the world had a filter on it. The last I remembered was hearing the ambulance calling ahead to Joondalup saying they had a priority 1 patient on board.

I remember waking up in extreme pain in my leg because someone was drilling a hole in my bone. I had no idea why. I was surrounded by people all looking at me. Apparently that was in ED. No other memories exist so I must have been unconscious. Whoever that was I forgive you because it literally saved me.

Later that morning I woke up in ICU and was told I was lucky to be alive. They told me I had diabetic ketoacidosis, and my blood was nearly all acid. They had never seen anybody that sick. I thought they may have been exaggerating. Sometimes I think the stoicism I learnt from my parents is a bad thing!

A few months have gone by since then, and I have had time to process that I really was lucky to be alive, and I really was that sick, and had no clue.

If it hadn't been for the ambulance drivers (whose name I never knew or forgot), if it hadn't been for all the doctors and nurses who worked on me in ED that morning, I now know I would be dead. That takes a lot of emotional processing.

The drilling into my leg was the only way they could get liquid into my body to counteract the acid in my blood because all my veins had shut down and I was severely dehydrated. That morning in ED they pushed through over 10 litres of liquid. We only have 4 litres of blood.

I give my heartfelt thanks to every doctor and every nurse who treated me in ED. I have no memory who those people were. I only remember the drilling because that hurt. Every cent they spent on educating themselves was worth it. Every hour they worked to become experts who could save my life and anyone else's life - totally worth it.

To all the super kind and caring people who looked after me in ICU - I am so grateful and so profoundly moved.

I was really touched when a nurse in the HDU popped into my room to visit me. She told me that when I was being worked on in ED, it was really touch and go whether I would survive. She said that when she got home that day her partner asked her how her day went and she said really fabulous. Then explained that she was so pleased they were able to resuscitate me and that I lived. That kind of passion is irreplaceable.

To the most amazing nurses who cared for me in HDU, and later in the general ward while I recovered. I will never forget your kindness or your faces. Words can't express how much I appreciated all the care. There was not one person I could say a bad thing about. It was just the most top- quality care at a time when I was having a really bad time!

Thank you so much and keep up the great work. Now that I have had this experience I am not failing to look after myself, just to ensure I do not become a burden to the Health system again. They really have it hard. The nurses are just run off their feet. Their shifts were so long.

Thank you, all doctors and nurses, for choosing Health as a career. Your efforts have made a difference to my life and so many others.