apologies........

for not commenting on anyone's blog for a while and for having nothing to show but I've not been well. Initially started about 8 weeks ago with breathing problems and pressure feelings in my head so off I went to the GP to be told no, its not blood pressure or anything you're depressed/stressed/hyperventilating and having panic attacks (!!) so of course I figured he knew what he was talking about so trotted off with my prescription for PROZAC, which after about 10 days I had to stop taking as I had a reaction to it and worsening symptoms. Went to the out of hours DR who told me I WASN'T depressed, but I did have a stomach infection so put me on antibiotics but it just got worse so after 4 days with no sign of relief I went to A&E where they ended up admitting me, giving me triple dose antibiotics through a drip and doing some tests to tell me yes, I have high blood pressure which I should have been taking medication for, a stomach infection, a small tissue hernia and cellulitis, but they decided to leave the hernia as the op's too risky because of weight issues. Got discharged after 5 days only to come home and find the breathlessness never eased, in fact it got worse and I started swelling from the waist all the way down my legs/ankles. Went back to the GP who said it was just a side effect of the antibiotics so I'd to wait for it to settle, which could take weeks or months:( Left it another few days during which time I continued swelling, visibly putting weight on (12kg in 2 weeks) and barely able to take 2 or 3 steps without gasping for breath before going back to the out of hours DR who said I had water retention and trapped wind - yeah right lol trapped wind was not a problem. After he gave me more meds which didn't work and I suffered another week not being able to do anything and by now barely able to breathe at all my mum and hubby decided it was ambulance time lol - ended up spending another 8 days in hospital having loads of tests done to be told I'm NOT depressed, I DON'T have trapped wind - but did have water retention - lots of it because the problem is actually heart related!!!! Apparently my left ventricle isn't pumping as well as it should and my heart's a bit stretched. It appears that it may possibly stem from me having had high blood pressure while pregnant - but its not been checked in over 3 years! I certainly wasn't expecting that one but don't think its too serious as I've been started on some medication and am being referred to cardiology within 4 - 6 weeks to see where they're going to go from there - the water tablet they gave me is great though I've lost just over 3 stone since last saturday lol - have to laugh or I'll cry, cos as well as all this my washing machine's packed in on me and Darrell got told on Wednesday he's out of a job - it never rains ..............