A Bad Journey But A Good Outcome
9 July 2006
OK here go's Miracle Malcolm they called me that at the Royal London Hospital it will come clear why they called me that as the story unfolds.
I collapsed From a near fatal bleed I was discovered lying in my apartment I was fighting for my life for 3 hours. The TV & table had smashed I must have fell on them (I do not remember much of the incident) it happened on the 8th may 2003 a day I'll never forget.
Next doors flat had a electrical fault and a little fire had broken out the fire brigade was called out They dealt with the fire and checked every-ones flat in the building to see if everyone was OK a firemen could get no response from me but could see a dark mass that looked like a human.
The fire brigade broke into my apartment they found me with vomit around my head they called the paramedics once the paramedics had got me stable I was taken to my local Hospital the casualty staff thought it was drugs because there was no outside of the body symptoms. It was only a doctor who was studying to be a neurologist that thought it was something else. So they put me through a ct scan and found a massive bleed in my head.
My heart rate was 110 and my bp was 220/180 and my gcs(Glasgow coma scale) was 4 (very close to death) it was decided it was to risky to operate at my local Hospital so they took me to the Royal London Hospital Whitechapel (one of the best Hospitals in the world).
The neurology team headed by Professor Richardson prepared me for surgery. In surgery they stopped the bleed (if the surgeons stop the bleed it takes 2 to 6 weeks for the swelling of the brain to go down to make the operation to remove the AVM more easy on the patient) when the swelling went down the surgeons performed a craniotomy which took a few hours after they removed part of my skull they could see the site of the avm it took another few hours to untangle the knot of arteries and veins whilst they where performing the operation I flat lined over 30 times because it is a very invasive operation.
After the the operation which went well I was sent to intensive care I was in there for 13 days after I had recovered I was still critically ill for 2 months after that and using a wheelchair to get around I also had peg fitted into my stomach so I could receive my tablets,water & nutri drinks with was a replacement for food because I had a tracheostomy fitted into my throat and lyed into the entrance to my lungs so I could breathe its a pipe so nothing can pass through throat & because my brain stem was effected I had an angiogram plus 3 other scans I was in Hospital for 5 months in total(I must of had a good guardian angel).
I refused that I couldn't walk again & having people look after my basic needs I.m a very independent person so I walked a few steps at first and now I can run 10 miles on the treadmill at my local gym. I have also to college & gained qualifications in English & new clait (it) I am also learning Spanish & English GCSE which will take a year I'm also doing voluntary work in a company called talking papers which read articles from the local newspapers & records them onto tapes for the blind,partially blind & people who trouble reading so there know what's going on in there local area. After the college course I will be looking at full time employment.
well its been 3 years 2months since the the AVM nearly killed me & to date date I have had no setbacks even though the AVM was completely removed (great news for me knowing that I wouldn't suffer a setback). I have been carrying this AVM around for 33 years finely bleed when I was 33 years old a long time which at times it felt like extreme pressure pushing down on me.
So the gamble paid off thinking back in may 2003 when I was in a wheelchair I was going to get better & live a 100% quality off life & enjoy the things most people take for granted like walking,breathing,eating,drinking & sleeping knowing you are going to wake up, every morning early when I awake I smile to myself & do something constructive with my day.
Good luck and all the best everyone.
© Copyright 2006 Malcolm Bligh
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