Part 1— it all started with a chest infection and ended with a trip to A&E. Scroll to the bottom or click here to read the next post and see what happened next.
The First Signs I Missed
The weeks leading up to my diagnosis, I was a normal, healthy 28 year old. I was working full time as a driving instructor, had just started a new relationship with my now husband and was just generally enjoying life. I did have some rather large random bruising that covered my legs and a few people commented that I was looking a bit pale. However, I felt fine, maybe just a bit more tired than usual, but overall I didn’t think anything of it. I was literally outside painting a fence and helping to shift a huge pile of firewood- so honestly felt completely healthy, strong and just normal.
Convincing Myself It Was Just A Chest Infection
Around the beginning of July I came down with, what I thought was, a nasty chest infection. I was so convinced it was just that, because the week before, I’d been teaching a student in the car for two hours who mentioned she was getting over a really bad chest infection. I figured I must have picked it up from her.
Over the next few days, I started to feel increasingly worse. My cough was relentless, my headache didn’t seem to go away. I was struggling to sleep at night because I couldn’t breathe properly when I laid down. Still, I convinced myself it was only a chest infection and powered on through.
By Thursday night, 5th July, things had intensified. I was just so unwell. Every time I laid down, I struggled to breathe, I was really breathless. I found myself, what I can only describe as, panting- just trying to get enough air in. It felt like I couldn’t get a full lung full of air and what didn’t help was the constant cough. I had a pounding headache all night and as a result I barely slept a wink. I ended up having to try and sleep completely upright, propped against a chest of drawers, just to get through the night.
The Wedding
The next morning, my family (my mum, dad, sister and her (now) husband) and I were due to leave for my cousin’s wedding—about a four-hour drive away. When I came downstairs, everyone commented on how pale and awful I looked. I told them how bad my night had been. I have to admit I did downplay how terrible it really was to them—but I still insisted I was okay. My sister wasn’t convinced. She said we weren’t going anywhere until I saw a doctor. But I was stubborn, I kept saying it was just a chest infection and convinced my mum and dad that I didn’t need to see a doctor. Instead I suggested we pick up some cough medicine on the way.
So, on my insistence, that’s exactly what we did.
The car journey was uneventful—other than the traffic. I was gulping cough medicine straight from the bottle (which I do not recommend), it did absolutely nothing. Still, I convinced myself it was helping. I managed to get a little bit of sleep, and having to sit upright in the car actually helped a lot. I still felt absolutely dreadful, still felt like I couldn’t get a full breath of air and had this nasty cough but we had arrived and it was good to be out of the car. The wedding wasn’t until Saturday so on Friday night we met up with my brother and sister-in-law and just caught up with extended family.
The Night Before The Wedding
That night was just like the one before. I couldn’t lie down without feeling like I was gasping for air, and again, I barely slept. By Saturday morning, I looked dreadful—pale, exhausted, and barely functioning. I put on a brave face and acted as normal as possible as I didn’t want to make a fuss, especially since I already knew my sister wasn’t happy that I hadn’t seen a doctor. So we got ready and headed over to the church for the ceremony.
During The Wedding Day
The ceremony was lovely, but trying to cough quietly during it was a difficult. People kept asking if I was okay because I looked so pale and unwell. My cousin said to my mum I looked like ‘death’, he didn’t say it to me though. By around 8 p.m. I was done—I needed my bed.
I told my parents I was heading back to my room, and insisted I was fine, that I was just tired. By that point, I was really struggling to breathe, and felt like I couldn’t get a full breath of air. Looking back it is so obvious to me I was suffering from some form of breathing distress, I had shortness of breath, rapid breathing and coughing. But still I thought I was ok and got ready for bed. I stacked up all the pillows to sleep as upright as possible, and then called my (now) husband to talk about the day. However, I had to cut the call short because I couldn’t catch my breath enough to hold a conversation.
The Night Everything Got Worse
That Saturday night was the absolute worst. The only way I can describe it is that I felt like I was constantly hyperventilating—breathing in short, shallow gasps, never getting enough air. At this point I was feeling a little bit more panicky and worried. Then I started vomiting, which is always a horrible experience.
The room I was in didn’t have an en-suite, so I went into my parents’ room and ended up staying on the bathroom floor. At some point my parents came up to check on me, saw the state I was in and then stayed with me.
Now, looking back, we all agree this was one of the many moments we should have sought medical help. At this point, the options should have been to either call an ambulance or go straight to A&E. There was clearly something seriously wrong. But no… instead, we decided to get up early and leave first thing in the morning.
That night, I slept in bed with my mum, propped up on a stack of pillows just to try and breathe a bit easier. She told me later that she kept hearing what she thought was a mosquito buzzing around her head and the drains gurgling- but she realised it was actually my breathing.
The Next Morning
The next morning, we were up early. I remember trying to get dressed and having to sit down halfway through because I was so out of breath. My brother said, “What’s up with you?” as I sat there gasping, and I just replied, “I just got dressed.” Which again, in hindsight, I just don’t understand what was going through my brain—I feel so stupid that I didn’t seek medical help. Being completely breathless after getting dressed is NOT normal.
After we loaded up the car, we left quickly and began the four-hour journey home.
The Turning Point: Finally Going to A&E
When we got back, I went straight to bed, insisting I was fine and that some sleep would help. But fortunately, my family stepped in. My dad called 111 on my behalf, and after a brief phone consultation, they told me to go straight to A&E.
So off we went.
Reflecting On My Experience
Looking back, I honestly can’t comprehend how I wasn’t more concerned. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe properly. And yet, I was still convinced it was “just a chest infection.” You may be thinking ‘why didn’t your parents’ take you to get seen by a doctor- well we ask ourselves this even now. I think I was just so convinced I was ok and that it would just pass that it convinced them to believe to me. I had always been in good health, before this happened I hadn’t needed to go to the doctors since I was about 15 or 16 and I was 28 at this point. So you know, I thought I was fine and would just get over it. I think the critical part was being with in a car with someone who had just had a chest infection. I would have been more concerned with my symptoms if that didn’t happen.
My Advice
If you take anything from this post, let it be this: trust your body. If you’re breathless, vomiting, exhausted, or something just feels off — go get checked. I thought I was healthy, and it nearly cost me everything.
We can laugh or beat ourselves up for not acting sooner, but the truth is we often don’t want to believe something serious is happening to us. If my story helps even one person go to the doctor earlier, then sharing this was worth it.
Have you had ever ignored symptoms that turned out to be serious? Share your story in the comments or connect with me — you’re not alone.
