On the 8th of June 2022, I was diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis.
Three days before being hospitalised, I was having some symptoms that I thought were the flu. First day, runny nose and stiff neck. The second day, my right ear was getting weaker and my eyes were sensitive to light. The third day, my hearing was blocked and I had a headache and a fever. I was so tired that day and I went to bed early. Later that night what I remember is that I woke up in the middle of the night and I was vomiting maybe for a minute and then collapsed.
When I woke up I found myself in the ICU (intensive care unit) drained out of energy nearly paralysed, I could only move my arm and had memory loss. Also on my arm, there was something I thought was rash, it looked like I had been in a fight with all the bruise colours on my arm but there was no pain. Later that day, my youngest brother came to visit me and he looked shocked (I didn't know anything about meningitis back then).
I was on antibiotics and painkillers all the time for three days after. I was tired of being on the bed I was able to feel my toes so it meant my nerves were still there but extremely weak so I started taking my first step. I fell that moment while grabbing the bed, it was like my body forgot how to walk and I needed to learn that again. The goal was to reach the chair next to the bed on the other side. A few minutes baby steps later. I was able to reach the chair but I had terrible dizziness. On that day, I started to remember the rest of the family, the nurses were helping me go to the toilet to have a shower. After a week, I was able to go to the toilet on my own but it was still taking me some time to walk. I did some CT scans and MRIs and I was told everything was alright. Ten days passed and I was sent to the normal ward, they did the normal checks and when they weighed me I was 42 kg. Before my illness, I was 75 kg.
After three days, I was discharged from the hospital. I was sent back home and I had a walking stick to help me walk. I was still having a rough dizziness and terrible nerve pain in my right leg from my hip down to my knee. After a couple of days, while chatting with my housemate, I discovered that it was he who found me on the floor and called the ambulance. He lifted me to the house entrance and when they saw me, they thought I had overdosed but he told them my symptoms and it helped diagnose me properly. I was in a coma for nearly four days.
For a week I could not sleep because of the pain. I was prescribed a high dose of vitamin D, nothing else. Every morning, I would go out and spend five minutes walking around the garden. Two weeks later, I started physiotherapy at home. Four weeks later, I was able to go back to light work. I was still having some memory issues but it got better after some time, same with my dizziness but my dizziness didn't improve much. I couldn't walk outside or go to work without my walking stick.
A few months later, in February, I travelled to Egypt to see my family and friends. I did some checks like CT and MRI scans, and hearing tests. The doctor said from the scans, "You do have an issue" and that is why I can't walk properly. I needed surgery because what I was having was life-threatening. He prescribed me a few medications for my ear discharge. Two weeks after, I travelled back to the UK, and tried to get an appointment for some months but no luck. My ear discharge stopped back then until June 2023, my ear started to discharge again and I was unable to get that appointment. So I called my doctor back in Egypt, and explained what is wrong and he said that means it is getting more serious now and it is better to do that surgery as soon as possible. I travelled back to Egypt the next month and on the 27th of July 2023, I did the surgery and it was successful. I was able to walk without the walking stick, the dizziness is still there but it is so much less than before and I am nearly back to normal again.
Whoever reads my story, thank you, and hopefully, it may save someone's life.
Omar Raafat Puente
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It was a shocking and hard experience.
Don't lose hope and always think positively. Whatever the kind of help others offer, take it and don't stay alone, speak with someone you trust when you need it, bottling up is the last thing you want to do.