Life challenges

It’s good to hear from you @Hopeandlove.

Yes I understand not wanting to be the focus of attention.

Remember it’s early days of treatment. You were really in a compromised state when you were at home, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes time to recover. Hopefully they can find what the bug is causing the pneumonia and then they can target it specifically.

Are you able to sit out of bed or walk a bit with a physio? Or it might be too early for that. Getting moving definitely helps with lung problems.

Hopefully you will be able to build up strength with rest and nutrition.

Hi @Hopeandlove

I guess you can take some positive from them now knowing what is going on. Not that it's great news, but we get used to that. Rest up as much as possible and let them do their thing.

And remember that the answer you gave isn't now written in stone, you can change it. You could also ask to talk to someone about how you're coping. You're already there with not much else to do, so may as well use any support services available.

I hope there's some good news with the pneumonia soon and you can get some relief from that. Your system is fighting a lot of stuff at once, so it will take time. Which i totally get is frustrating as time is not something we want to waste lying in a hospital bed, even in the best of times.

@Till23 they are having problems getting the antibiotics into me via IV as the lines keep failing after a short period. I'm able to sit up a little bit but not all the way so I'm not able to get out of bed.

At the moment I'm so scared of what's happening, mentally I'm prepared for the worst and come to terms that I know I don't have that much longer left even if I do beat this.

Oh hun @Hopeandlove

I hear your fear and your pain. It sounds so tough. We are all thinking of you and cheering you on.

I'm here if a chat and company will help 🙂

Thinking of you.

@MJG017 resting is all I'm able to do, not allowed to get up or walk around.

I've spoken to a mental health worker about how I'm feeling and I've been offered support but it's not going to change anything. Even if I can beat this I won't have that much of a quality life ahead of me. The DNR stands and I'm not changing that.

Thanks for the well wishes. At the moment I want this to be over, but I don't know which way I want it to go.

Thank you @tyme . It would be nice to chat, maybe a chance to take my mind off of things happening here.

@Hopeandlove there are other ways of accessing veins apart from a cannula so there’s still options there.

I don’t know what state (in Australia) you are in, but you should have access to consultation liaison psychiatry while you are in hospital. You can ask your treating team about accessing that service. It’s for people to deal mentally with their physical illness and they also see people with existing mental illnesses.

You are going through an extremely difficult time mentally and physically and you are being very resilient.

Hey @Hopeandlove , whatever happens, just know we are here for you.

Tell us about some of the things you used to love doing. Do you like movies, books, gardening, cars?

It would be nice to get to know you a bit more.

Oh we were both typing at the same time @Hopeandlove 🤣

I see you have had access to MH. Sometimes it’s good to have a face to face chat with someone, especially since in hospital they should be across the medical situation.

It’s difficult to make a well thought out decision about things when you’ve suddenly been put into a situation like acute illness.

Although you say you’ve made the DNR decision just be aware you can revoke it at any time.

If you fight off the infection it will give you more space to consider things.

Happy to chat about anything you’d like to chat about for distraction

@Till23 it took the doctor to get a line in that is working for now, but if that fails they are looking at doing it another way. There's only so many times I can handle being poked and prodded, tears streamed down my face when they were trying cos even them touching my skin hurts.

They said a psychiatrist will be coming to speak to me tomorrow but I don't know if I'll have it in me to talk about things. I don't feel resilient, I want to give up so it's lucky that I'm here and the medical team are fighting for me.