Lisa Wright's story

We had just started our summer holidays and the second week in I started to feel very achy and had a really sore throat. I didn't take too much notice of it as this came on every six weeks or so ever since I had tonsillitis about six months previously.

However at the end of the week I developed a headache that would not go with painkillers. That was on the Friday, by the Monday morning I felt awful and started vomiting. I went to the doctors who said it was a migraine. She gave me some painkillers and told me to go to bed for the afternoon. By the evening I could not even keep water down, and the headache had not got any better.

I woke on the Tuesday morning feeling even worse. My husband had gone to work, I had my two girls to look after and I just couldn't get out of bed. I arranged to see the doctor again, and my sister came to take me, it was such an effort just to get ready to go!

The Doctor sent me to the hospital suspecting meningitis. Once there I had a CT scan and two lumbar punctures (they could not extract any fluid on the first attempt). The results came back a day or so later as viral meningitis. I spent four days in hospital on IV antI-sickness and antI-viral medication.

However, once home after a couple of days, I just felt worse again, and then started being sick again and could not move without feeling the room spin. I cannot explain the feeling in my head but it was just awful I just sat or lay there all day and just couldn't move. I have never felt so ill in my life!

After two weeks the doctor was called by my mother and she made a home visit, she sent me back into hospital as I was now dehydrated. I spent another four days in hospital, they did an MRI scan just to make sure there was nothing else going on, but it was still the meningitis.

That was three weeks ago now. I am still off work, there are days where I don't feel so bad, but if I do anything even slightly strenuous, I get that feeling back in my head again. When asked how I am feeling, all I can say is that I don't feel ill like I did, but I just don't feel myself. I am hoping it won’t last much longer!

Lisa Wright
September 2012