"Me ending up in high dependency"

Unfortunately my journey to here was long. It was 100% my fault, but when I got here I was looked after so well.

I hadn't been feeling great for months, I thought I was just tired but then I found out I had gallbladder problems. I have been under the care of the intestinal failure unit for many years now and I feel truly blessed that I have them to call when needed. This time I put off calling and I put myself in danger.

The intestinal failure team are fantastic. I made a call and I was lucky enough that they were happy to admit me. I made the call and was in a hospital bed by the Friday. Unfortunately that night I took very ill and was rushed to high dependency.

I'm not sure if it's fortunate or not, but I have no memory of what really happened. Some people have pieced together little snippets for me bit by bit and maybe in the future I'll want to know what happened, but at the minute I'm ok not knowing. As far as I know I had hydrocephalus which is fluid on the brain, that made me hallucinate and was quite scary. I also know  that my liver was a problem and my gallbladder had an infection. So that's what I sort of know. Now I'd like to tell you about what your staff have done right.

I really can't thank the staff in high dependency enough, they were so amazing especially a nurse named Lilly, she looked after me and she was so special.

I'm now in ward 7 south and I really can't speak highly enough of all the staff here. They have treated me so well, they've looked after me and I'll never be able to repay their kindness. Laura is the sister here in 7 south and from bits I've been told by family and obviously since I've come round, she has been amazing, so supportive and caring. She always has a smile on her face and I love to see her.

Also my doctor, Dr Rafferty, has been amazing as well as Dr Murray who has been here my whole journey from being seriously ill to hopefully returning home soon. I feel very lucky to be here today and I attribute that to all your wonderful staff. I'm so grateful for all the help and support I've received from everyone, porters, radiographers, the catering staff, just everyone.

If it hadn't been for the intestinal failure team and in particular Maeve who got me admitted to hospital, I don't think I would still be here today. People like to give off and complain about things but I have to give credit where credit is due. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world, it could have been so different had I not been in hospital. I think I probably would have died.

I've thanked everyone in person I hope but I'd love my story to be passed on to the staff as I'll always remember their kindness.