When my life was on the line, the doctors never gave up – Seth’s story.
After suffering from a sore throat and a call to 111, Seth was rushed to the hospital after his illness became life-threatening. After fighting for his life and having to relearn how to walk and talk again, he wanted to say thank you to the staff who looked after him by taking on his first ever Sprint Triathlon.
Seth wanted to share his story with us to raise awareness of the incredible impact the staff who were looking after him had on him and his family
“On Wednesday 18th July 2024, I had to phone in to work with a bad sore throat that had been building for a couple of days. By the time I finally gave in to taking some sick days, I hadn’t eaten for three days and was struggling to swallow fluids.
On the Friday, I took myself to bed in the afternoon and woke in a haze around 7:30 on Saturday morning. The only way I could describe how I felt was like I was watching myself from a distance. I felt confused, had no idea what day or time it was. I was soaked in sweat, like I had been in the shower, and I was slurring my words. At this point, my wife called 111 for some advice as this wasn’t just a normal sore throat.
After the operator listened to my attempt to answer questions on the phone, they sent an ambulance, which arrived within eight minutes. The crew did some basic checks, put in a cannula and dosed me up with some dextrose fluids, which seemed to work in the first instance. I was able to walk myself to the ambulance.
Due to seeing my improvement, my wife didn’t come with me in the ambulance. She had to drop our dogs off at my parents' house and get some bits together for herself before meeting me at the hospital. She was 10 weeks pregnant at the time, so was feeling peak exhaustion and sickness, so not ideal to have an unwell husband!
On the way to QMC, I began being sick, the confusion I had felt earlier began to creep back in, and I have a distinct memory of seeing blue lights out of the back window of the ambulance.
In A&E I had my bloods taken on arrival and was swiftly moved into a side room. The main concern at this point was my airways due to an inflamed throat. I was moved to RESUS to wait for an Ear, Nose and Throat assessment.
A doctor from ENT saw me within 20 minutes of being in RESUS and they put a camera down my throat to confirm that I had severe tonsilitis. I would be moved to a bed on the ENT ward, receive a strong dose of antibiotics overnight and go home – happy days.
Back in A&E, whilst waiting for a ward bed, a nurse from RESUS came to see me and informed me that based on my blood tests, I needed to be moved back to RESUS immediately. At this point, I was feeling quite unwell, and I didn’t really understand what was going on.
By now my wife had joined me and we were told that the levels of sodium in my blood were critically low, something called Hyponatremia, with regular levels usually being around 135 to 145. Mine were 107, and this was much more important to treat than the infection in my throat.
Over the next hour, I deteriorated significantly. I lost all my speech completely, lost fine motor skills, so I couldn’t communicate via text or hold anything, couldn’t swallow, so I was dribbling everywhere, and I couldn’t hold my head up.
The doctor who was looking after me, Dan, was excellent. He was so calm but efficient and very honest about the situation we were in. They performed more blood tests, and I was sent for multiple CT scans, including one using dye to check for any damage on my brain.
There became a point when my wife was told that if I had any family that lived close by, now was the time they should come to the hospital and prepare for the worst.
Dan spoke to me; I was able to just about communicate with a thumbs up or down. He told me that all he needed from me was to stay awake. If I’d passed out, the chances were that I’d be in a coma or more likely worse. He reassured me that they had everything on hand ready to try and keep me alive and that they would do everything they could to take care of me, but I need to fight to stay conscious.
This seemed like an impossible task - the lack of sodium had sent my nervous system haywire, my brain had swelled and my entire body was shutting down - it seemed so easy to close my eyes, I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep but I continued to battle with my body - I couldn’t leave my wife alone to raise our child and couldn’t leave my baby without a dad.
I remained in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for two days, in which time my speech and motor skills gradually came back, though I wasn’t making much sense when I could speak! I was closely monitored and had an incredible nurse called Patience who remained at my beside non-stop and kept my family updated when they came to visit.
I don’t remember much of ICU as my body was still not in good shape, but I do remember hallucinating quite a bit and not being able to move very much. Once my sodium levels were consistently rising from the treatment, I was moved to High Dependency ward where the long road to recovery began.
Again, all the nurses and doctors that supported me and my family in the new ward were exceptional - they were so attentive, informative and empathetic.
Over the next week I stabilised and was happy to see some visitors but still had a lot of work to do - I had to learn to walk again amongst other things, but the physio was amazing!
While on the ward, I was updated that the likely cause of the crisis event was an adrenal insufficiency, and further tests would determine that I have Addison’s Disease - something that I will need to manage for the rest of my life by taking daily steroids.
I spent a total of eight days in hospital. From admission to RESUS and the point of very nearly losing my life, to discharge as an outpatient with the Endocrinologist, the care and support from all staff was beyond amazing. From doctors to nurses to catering staff, everyone was fully committed to my care and recovery. They could not have done any more and most definitely contributed to my swift discharge.
I had to take four months off work to recover, rehabilitate and process all that happened, as well as my new diagnosis and my life with Addison’s; a journey that is still on going nearly a year later. I felt very frail in my body for a long time, I was unsteady on my feet and also experienced some social anxiety (something completely new to me as I have never struggled with anxiety) in larger groups as my brain couldn’t process lots of conversation at once and I felt judged by people that didn’t know why I was struggling to form sentences or walk.
I have always been a very active person with a connection to watersports including surfing, open water swimming and in the last few years Dragon Boating with Notts Anaconda, where I have supported the Nottingham Hospitals Charity Dragon Boat Races.
As part of my recovery, I set myself challenges and goals to achieve - at first it was walking to the end of my road unaided, walking to the coffee shop in my village, attending a social event, getting behind the wheel of my car again, walking my dogs and eventually attending a dragon boat training session.
I have used exercise and activity as a major part of rehab so when I heard about the Nottingham Outlaw Sprint Triathlon I knew straight away that I had to complete this and prove to myself that neither the event in July nor Addison’s was going to rule my life, and I could be as strong and fit as I was a year ago. The race itself was awesome; all I wanted to do was finish within the 3-hour time limit which I did and finished in 1hour 56 minutes. It was a brilliant incentive to get out and exercise, to take care of my body and be the best version of myself.
As further incentive to turn up on the day I decided to complete the event for charity so when coming up with the right organisation to donate any money raised to, it was the easiest decision to make - I wanted to support the hospital’s Critical Care Team that saved my life, gave my wife her husband back and enabled my son to meet his dad.
There are not enough cards, chocolates or flowers in the world that would cover the amount of gratitude and respect I have for the team at QMC that ensured I got to see another day.
The £1,400 raised so far isn’t a lot but hopefully it is supporting the team to continue helping people like me every day - giving another family hope for their loved one.”
We’re so thankful that Seth shared his story with us, and for the support he has provided other patients like himself through his incredible fundraising efforts. We look forward to continuing to work with him at our Dragon Boat Races.
If, like Seth, you would like to say thank you to an area that has helped support you or someone you love, you can donate to that area today.