The next morning I woke up with swollen ankles and was still itching so I went to the G.P who told me to stop taking them immediately as it could have proved fatal if I’d carried on taking them. I continued with the steroids and the swelling on my face, ankles and itching subsided. We were worried about how casualty had handled the situation sending me home and was told to keep taking the anti-depressants even though it was obvious that they were the reason for the allergic reaction.

2007

As a result of my condition, my weight was going up and down. I now weighed five stone and was very skinny. I hated my body and how it looked. My ribs and hip bones were visible and looked awful. This had always been a problem as I was fussy with my food so was used to it, and it was all down to the condition I had. My doctor Mr Turnbull recommended a PEG (Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) to help me put on weight and get the recommended nutrition that I needed which I wasn’t getting due to my fussiness. Although there was no guarantee that I’d put on any weight, the main reason was the nutrition.

I was against it at first because I didn’t want a tube coming out of my stomach as I was only 21. I was eventually persuaded by my parents to have the procedure.

So in May 2007, I was once again at Bradford Royal Infirmary for my operation, I was still scared though despite all the other operations I have had, it never gets easier. I asked to be anesthetised by gas this time to put me to sleep instead of the needle because by now I’m terrified of the needles that put you to sleep. I came to after the operation but I don’t remember much after that, I remember my parents being there and I was playing with their hands and kept trying to get out of bed using the bars.

I had complications fighting infection due to my weight being low and my immune system, I think I was sent to intensive care unit and was put on breathing apparatus because I was having trouble breathing right.
After that, it’s a blank really, I woke up after seven weeks of being on a ventilator, I discovered from my parents that I had caught pneumonia and septicemia and that I had to be put on a ventilator to help me breathe. I went through some weird dreams while I was asleep; my parents assured me it was because of the drugs they gave me.

I really thought the dreams were true and that they really happened to me so it was very strange to find out that they were just dreams! I dreamt that I had been in helicopter or a nurse had stolen my cochlear implant!
I was comforted by the fact that my parents and brother had been there the whole time and that my friends had done things for me and left me messages on the internet.

It took time to get on my feet because I felt so heavy, but with the help of the nurses and my mum I gradually got walking on my own again and had a few baths! I eventually got used to my PEG too and got to know how to use it and how to put on the feed with the drip we were given. I felt extremely lucky to be alive because my parents told me I was given 24 hours to live by doctors and my family. Family friends were preparing to say goodbye to me. I was very shocked because I felt so well, as if I’d woken from a deep sleep. I wasn’t aware of all that had happened to me, when my family played music, talked to me to try to get me to wake up. I spent another week or two in ICU before returning to a normal ward.

I was much happier there because I could use my mobile and go on the internet! After another week there, I was finally on my way home. I was still a bit weak and unsteady on my feet so I always had to hold on to my mum. After a lot of rest and walking short distances, I got stronger and started feeling more like myself. I started at five stone at the beginning of the op, now I have reached seven stone and I need to reach eight stone before take three months without the drip to see if I can maintain the weight, and if I can, the PEG can come out. I am going to try my best to maintain it and hope that I won’t lose any. I don’t want to risk anything but we’ll see how it goes!

2008

I am now enjoying working at the Castle Hill Special School and love helping out in the reception office. I have put on two stone gradually since having the PEG and I’m enjoying exploring new clothes for my new body! I am seeking counseling about what happened to me in hospital.

I am getting used to my new body and how it looks now with the weight on but I feel I look much better now I have. Although I still have the PEG at the moment, I have two days off the drip-feed because Mr Turnbull feels he’s happy with the weight I have put on.

I am still fussy with food though because that’s the way I’ve lived most of my life and it’s hard to change my ways. I am hoping I will be able to have my PEG out soon and that I will have yet another cool scar to show off!
As for my Cochlear Implant – that’s still going strong and I wouldn’t be without it! One of my favourite bands at the moment are Take That! I loved them in the 1990s when they got together and played their songs constantly until they broke up!

They get better each time they bring a new song out! I listened to "Patience" for weeks when they released it! Their songs are some of those that I started listening to when I first got my cochlear implant in 1994 so they hold fond memories for me!

This is the final installment of Laura’s cochlear implant diary, but for more about her medical journey, you can find her blog here.