I've always had allergies. I'm the poster girl for ' the atopic march '. Eczema at 6 weeks of age, allergic rhinitis at 6 and then asthma at 11. As a baby nurse I developed hives using latex gloves and so I avoided them.
This week , after having hundreds of exposures to my sons latex basketball , my immune system finally had enough and sent me into anaphylaxis. Not fun. Of course , being a nurse , I didn't go to the hospital. I didn't have an epipen. I took Zyrtec and salbutamol and rode it out. It was stupid of me and I won't do it again. I now have two epipens. I am taking double dose antihistamines and a preventer for my asthma. I have great doctors and nurses looking after me.
It got me thinking. How many times ,as nurses, do we advise our patients to do one thing and then don't do it ourselves ? I'd never ,ever advise my patients to 'ride out' an anaphylaxis. I'd tell them to dial 000 as soon as symptoms start. Why did I not think my health was equally as important? In truth I didn't really think it was that serious. It was only after the event I got a little bit nervous. But I also didn't want to go to ED. I've worked in ED's and didn't really want to spend hours there when I thought I'd be ok. Lots of nurses avoid hospitals. When we do go we don't tell anyone what we do. Is it because we get treat differently ? Is it because we feel like we're wasting our colleagues time ? Is it because we don't want to intimidate those caring for us ?
I don't know the answers but I do know that as nurses our health is just as important as our patients. We do ourselves , and our families, a disservice by not looking after our health and seeking help. I hope I've learned my lesson. My family and myself deserve for me to be as well as I can.
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