This time a year ago


A year ago I ended up in hospital after waking up on night in intense agony in my back.

The experience was not pleasant with the incompetence of the medical staff and their blinkered approach to medicine and an inability to look beyond what the doctors wanted to find.

Because of some very weird blood results (elevated white blood cells and elevated  CRP levels) they assumed I had some sort of massive infection and they tried to make the symptoms fit what they thought it was rather than actually looking for a cause of the symptoms.

Through an MRI and multiple CT scan they discovered my right lung was "closed" over although I was not suffering from any major symptoms apart from intense pain and the weird blood results.

Being gay their first thought is always HIV, which was  quickly discounted, then cancer, then pneumonia.

The experience was extremely distressful and I feel for anyone who ever gets sick I really do.

I ended up have a guided bronchoscopy where they found pretty much nothing, no infection and no swelling or inflammation (not that they told me these things).

The Infectious Diseases DR even had the audacity to tell me there was evidence of a major long term infection in my lung, which I was told weeks later was not the case.

But because they were convinced it was some virulent lung infection they wanted me to stay in hospital for a month on IV antibiotics.  They tried to admit me again and when I asked why and what treatment they were going to give me no one knew!

Needless to say there was no way in hell I was going to do that, especially since they couldn't actually pinpoint what they were treating me for.

I did however end up spending a month with an IV attached but I was at home and work so apart from the pain of carrying that thing around and the central line in my arm threaded all the way into my chest I was ok.

I found the picture of me above looking skinny as all hell - I think after the first hospital stay I was around 63 kgs in weight and very very skinny.

At the end of all the treatment one of the doctors admitted to me that the whole thing had been "a bit of  a storm in a teacup", and probably should not have been on antibiotics for a month.

They still had no idea what had been wrong with me, and even worse they never actually told me that the CRP inflammation blood results came back normal after three days anyway as did all the rest of the test results.

But they were convinced that they were correct in their diagnosis so they tried to make things fit.

It was a big lesson for me, I felt like shit for a month and a half too, a factor of being told you are sick and having that bloody IV attached to me 24 hours a day.

For all we know there is something weird with my lung, but there was never any infection, cancer or anything else.

My wankerish extended homophobic relatives were convinced I was dying of AIDS and were pestering my sister with their brand of "God Bothering".

The boy and I joke that "Praise Jebus" I was cured LOL

But the experience did teach me a few other important things.

the number one was that I have to take my body and my health seriously, as an ex smoker it did scare me to think i may have had lung cancer. And looking at that picture I realised I was way to skinny and I need to get back tot he gym properly and put on some real bulk.

My overall fitness level back then was atrocious and it has been this year that I finally did something about it!

Touch wood whatever caused the lung to get inflamed and the pain has not reoccured, although my medical friends tell me it's likely if there is something like an allergy or a weakness or something else it will happen again.

Personally I think it is related to my acid reflux and it's not unheard of for stomach acid to leak into the lung and cause pain and inflammation.  Looking back on the experience not once did the Doctors ever ask any questions not related to looking for the infection they expected to find.

But in some ways it was a wake up call for me to get fit and take control of my body which is what I did this year!

I'm going to start posting about my journey of the renewed get healthy and fit process which has been really interesting!

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