Since the introduction of vaccination programs by UKHSA and NHS England in 1999, the case of meningococcal group C (MENC) diseases has decreased by 99%, but the fight against fatal diseases that cause meningiitis and sepsis continues.
In 2018, BECCA Heritage was a young college student studying general medicine with an ambitious general medicine to become a NHS doctor. In this blog post, BECCA shared a story about how meningitis changed her life and began to start her for several weeks.
Work went well during the first week of college. I lived independently, enjoyed freedom, attended classes, and met new people. It has led to this moment of stress and preparation over the past two years. But on a weekend, everything changed dramatically while a friend from home visited.
As we could expect, we didn’t drink, we went to bed in a reasonable time and felt perfectly. In the middle of the night, I had an incomprehensible vomiting. After the time did not stop, the alarm bell rang. We contacted NHS 111, which guided me as A & E.
Until early in the morning, I was still vomiting, but there was no other warning signal. The doctors must give me a tablet and I was preparing to release me when my condition suddenly worsened. I have a fever, clam and confused. I am ambiguous to get up to go to the bathroom, but I heard that there will be a seizure. In a few hours, I went from health to hospitalization.
The doctors worked enthusiastically to cool me around me with fans and ice packs. When my parents arrived, I noticed noticeably, and I moved to intensive care for two weeks in a coma. Until Monday evening, my condition worsened, and my family warned that sepsis would not survive at night. But anyway, I made it through it.
Until Tuesday, my opportunity is still dark. The parents had to explain the situation to the two sisters, and the family said goodbye. My condition was touched and moved, and the swelling of the brain caused by meningitis appeared. The doctors said they would not survive if swelling increased to the family.
When I woke up two weeks later, I didn’t know what happened. I was frustrated that I had a sense of direction, a fog from the drug, and I couldn’t have a simple pleasure like hot chocolate. I gradually learned that I was fighting meningiitis and sepsis, and as I looked down, I saw my hands and skin patches completely black. The texture was almost the same as the surface of the brick.
For the next six weeks in intensive care, I have undergone several surgery, including cutting of multiple fingers and removing necrotic skin. I remember that my hand was bandaged and I asked the nurse to attract the grandmother’s hand to show how much I am left. Seeing her hand covered with a pen -the reality hit me.
My friends sent a care package. Most of them looked stupid as they prepared to cut their feet. Until December, I was in trauma and orthopedic wards and had more skin transplantation and surgery. The pain was extreme. After one procedure, I screamed in a burning feeling as if I was sitting on the mountain. In the middle of the night, small joys, such as opening the Advent calendar with their mother and grandmother, became my life line.
On Christmas, I left the hospital for six hours and spent a day with my family at the house provided by the school. In January, I was transferred to Solzbury for professional surgery, and both legs were cut off. The operation is painful, but once it is completed, the focus turned into rehabilitation.
I threw myself into prosthetic rehabilitation with determination. From Monday to Friday, I was in the gym all day and learned how to use prostheses and restore power. On the weekend, I wanted to go home and enjoy the summit. Seven weeks later, I was walking independently of prosthesis.
In 2020 I returned to college to restart a medical degree. It was an appropriate time and I was proud of my life. Despite my disability, I decided that it would not change my way. During the study, I joined the hand transplant list. Last year I received a donor’s hand from Leeds. This was a big progress, and the experience was much more positive because it was a healthy choice.
Now I am pursuing a master’s degree in medical school by planning to be a doctor. Thank you for being able to manage the disability and lead an independent life despite the permanent impact of meningitis.
Meningitis is now easy to prevent with vaccines. For parents with young children or parents who are eligible to receive a catch -up program, they urge this simple and saving stage to save life. If I could prevent my infection, my life would have been very different. What is here today is very lucky, but not everyone gains that opportunity.
It is important for parents to protect their children from meningitis by receiving vaccinations of MENB, MENC and 6-in-1 as a child and getting fierce in teenagers. All teenagers deserve MenacWy B by the 25th birthday. It is important to be vaccinated if they missed, especially if they entered a university due to death, meningiitis or sepsis.
