a bit medical

[piling pete]

Hi All
As usual please move if its in the wrong place
This is my dive report for my Malta trip
As some may know I did my gue fundys a fortnight before my trip so it was going to be my chance to practice my new found skills and generally have some fun .The day before we were due to fly (sun) It was my daughters 18th birthday (I know I don’t look old enough but it’s the truth) .So I went over to Manchester to see her when I got there she told me my son and her step dad had both been up all night being sick. So after spending all day with her I went home had my tea watched TV and went to bed. This is the point where it all started to go bad, at around 2 am the next day I woke up with a severe backache and half a hour later I was bent over the big white telephone talking to god .This went on about every 20 min for the next 12 hrs .When I eventually stopped being sick I phoned my daughter up to find out what everybody’s symptoms were. I was told sick for 12 hrs feel like poo for 12 hrs then all ok .So we made the decision to still go on holiday as in a further 12/24 hrs I would be ok. We went to the airport flew to Malta (I slept all the way) taxi to my wife’s parents where I made my apologies and went to bed. The next day I thought I would feel better but no such luck, so I stayed in all day but seemed to be getting worse and my belly was starting to swell up. The same thing happened the next night. So on the third day I hobbled down to the local doctor who immediately sent me to the hospital. When I got to the hospital A&E I was in so much pain all I wanted was some relief they did some tests and told me I was to be kept in as they needed to do some more tests and take some x-rays and ultrasounds of my belly which was by this time as tight as a drum. Then came the pain relief in the form of a syringe full of morphine. I have never wanted to kiss someone so much in my life. At this time they put a pipe down little Pete and into my bladder also one up my nose and into my stomach. These were to drain any fluids the relief was instant, then they put me on a ward at aprox 5 pm but I was off my tits so I don’t remember that much about it. At aprox 9-10 pm I had x-rays and body scans and back on the ward .At aprox 11pm the surgeon came to see me and told me that they were going to perform my surgery that night, so at 2am I was taken to the theatre and told that they did not know what they would find until they had had a look inside but that at worse they might have to remove my bowel and I might wake up with a colostomy bag, with this thought I was sent to the land of nod
When I woke up the first thing I did was to run my hands down my front to see if I had any new pipes poking out ,to my relief there was not. When I saw the surgeon the next day she told me that what had happened was that I had a restriction on my bowl and with me vomiting so hard I had managed to twist my large bowel shut and if they had not operated then it would have split and In a short space of time I would have gone in to septic shock and died. To say I was scared is an understatement, I had to stay in hospital for a further 6 days and then I went back to my wife’s parents. I could not do a lot and was told I could not fly home when I intended due to the 44 staples that were holding all my bits inside. After 2 days when I was doing my cleaning and re dressing of my scar aprox 50mm opened up and started to leek green puss. So back to the hospital for a quick cleanup and home, or so I thought. They kept me in for 3 more days and at the end removed the staples and left the middle 50mm to close up on its own. We flew home 1 week later than planed and me with some very dry dive gear
So in summery
1 .If you are going to be ill on a dive holiday do it in Malta as the hospital and hospital staff are excellent
2 .Don’t twist your bowel as its not much fun
3. Don’t plan on retiring and becoming a swimwear model coz it might not work out due to a 12 in scar right down your belly
PETE

[big_si]

So no diving then?

[Mal Bridgeman]

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ittttttttttttttttttttttt!

Scarey stuff Pete .... glad you are on the mend ...when can you dive again?
Mal

[piling pete]

min of 6 weeks before i can drive so god knows about diving

[big_si]

Originally Posted by piling pete

min of 6 weeks before i can drive so god knows about diving

Bloody hell! Glad you're alright!

[piling pete]

I should add while i was there they were practising landing the helicopters as this is where the new chamber is

[w650peter]

Bit of a different trip report that one !!!! Hope you make a rapid recovery.

Peter

[Dr T]

holy crap.

glad you are ok !!

ash

[Mick F]

Now there's a trip report with a difference!

Glad you're OK Pete. Look after yourself & tell everyone you got the scar in 'nam!!

[ratcliffe]

Oh. My. Word.

That really does not sound good. Hope you pick up soon, and good luck with working towards the moment when you can get wet again.