In October I broke my wrist playing football. It was a straightforward injury and pretty painless, but resulted in a few hospital visits. When it was time to have the cast removed, I got in a muddle and arrived an hour and a half early. On that morning, I saw the rare sight of an NHS Accident and Emergency Department with no patients and apparently underworked doctors. So I decided to go for an examination - I had pain in my chest which I thought was probably the result of using my muscles differently to carry the cast. All I wanted was a doctor to confirm that I did not have bronchitis so I could carry on smoking. Instead, he told me I had a shadow on my lung.
I made an appointment with a chest specialist and took a course of antibiotics. By the time my appointment came I felt I was enjoying good health. But the doctor immediately informed me that I had tuberculosis. I wasn't really shocked. In fact I have to say I was a little tickled. But, he was confident in his diagnosis - which was later confirmed by the laboratory - and I was soon in an isolation room.
I worried about who might have infected me and whether I had infected anyone. But, blessed with the confidence of youth, I was not particularly concerned about the implications for my health. I did, however, take careful note when it appeared the doctors were concerned. By the time a tube was poked into my lung to do a 'lavage', I'd had enough. After a couple of days of isolation and countless tests, the novelty had completely worn off. But, I was lucky and able to leave hospital after only a short stay.
Even after a stay in hospital, the road to complete recovery is a long one. If you are lucky however, it is a straight road. All you have to do is take the pills and try to lead a relatively healthy life. I'm happy to say that I had my share of luck and am now tuberculosis free. Nevertheless, I still feel a little disappointed to have fallen ill in the first place, particularly given that I was vaccinated, and somehow I wish I could take credit for fighting the disease off. But, in reality, all the credit should go to the drugs, to the Accident and Emergency doctor for his thoroughness, to the TB doctor for his diagnosis and my TB nurse, who together with the other TB nurses, kept me in line, thank you.
Reproduced with kind permission of the UK Coalition of PLW HIV/AIDS
