The Plan
So the original plan was meet my friends in Stockport. Drive up to Leith (Edinburgh) for an overnight stay, then carry on to Dufftown to enjoy the Speyside Whisky festival.
What happened
We’d had a nice afternoon and overnight in Leith and we headed off for our main accommodation in Dufftown. Stopping at Lindores Abbey Distillery on the way for a tour.
We’d arrived at our main accommodation, our Tesco delivery arrived and I wasn’t feeling great so I let the others take that in. After eating a slice of pizza or two I went to the bathroom, and that’s when I knew something wasn’t right. I was just so breathless I said to my friends, that I needed help. They dealt with summoning me an ambulance, and thank god they did. My memories end at being asked “Do you want me to do what I can to help you?” and me saying yes, and my t-shirt starting to be cut off.1 I am told it took two lots of adrenaline to start me responding to that, and I was taken to Dr Gray’s Hospital where they stabilised me. I was transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where they did an emergency total thyroidectomy, and spent about three weeks in total, two in their Intensive Care Unit and then one in an assisted recovery ward.
At some point I’m not sure when they tried a tracheotomy that didn’t work, so when mum was first going to see me they warned her of the stiches from that.
The next thing I know I awake in hospital and get asked if I want my mum and sister to come and visit. With thumbs up I managed to communicate yes. When I woke I found I had a tube in my mouth helping me breathe so talking didn’t work.
It’s all a bit of a blur, but my mum and sister did come and visit. I think I recall my sister being there, but can’t be 100 percent sure on that. I was apparently quite heavily sedated. Looking at the discharge notes they gave me the operation to remove the thyroid was the 04/05/2025. I recall my mum being there without my sister, and then Dad also flying up to Aberdeen to see me. When I was first alert enough to be able to communicate I had to use a letter sheet to explain to my parents, who to contact at work, what was really annoying is I really didn’t have fine motor control so my finger would often point to the wrong place. That said work have been amazing, it makes me glad to work where I do.
More of the medical details
Whilst I was in recovery my right arm decided it didn’t want to play anymore and did it’s thing where it swells up to double size. That was treated with blood thinners and antibiotics for DVT or cellulitis. When they first tried removing the tube, if had to go back in as I wasn’t coping with the breathing without it.
It’s hard to write about, both because it is quite emotional, but also because I know just how lucky I was. Had I not been with level headed friends, had we have gone to Islay like normal (lovely island, but slower access to medical services and we could have been on the boat at the time), had I not been look after as well by the ambulance crew and hospitals, things could have been very different. Finding veins in my arms got quite difficult, many of my blood tests were done at the back of my hands and I recall one attempted to get a line in it took two doctors and an ultrasound machine.
But, I want to look to a positive future. These breathing problems that I have had for the last eight or so years, now mainly gone. I no longer sound like a steam train just walking about. So I am really hoping to get my fitness back to where it was before I started struggling. I certainly did not appreciate how much three weeks in hospital weakens you body. Much of my recovery is now focused on getting back to day to day activities. One of the bits I really like is not having to take daily inhalers that I didn’t think were doing anything. It also explains why when I did the lung function testing that Salbutamol made no improvement to my numbers. Out of personal interest I did a peak flow and found 380 L/Min, when 140 – 160 used to be pretty normal for me.
I’ve already made sure to say thank you to plenty of people. So won’t list them all here, but it’s obvious I am very grateful to my friends, family and all the medical services that helped me in Scotland.
It was touching to get some many people get in touch and ask how I am doing. Even if I was a bit slow to be able to use a phone at first, and the number of cards I received.
Yes I’ve got a scar across my neck for life now, but given I’ve very pale skin and like to avoid the sun anyway that doesn’t worry me much. Even if I did have to ask for scissors in the recovery ward to “adjust” the t-shirts I had so that they didn’t annoy me around my neck. I’m also on Levothyroxine for life now, but the good news is if I do manage to get back to healthier Mike and come off the Metformin, this still allows me a medical exemption on prescription charges.
Also thanks to Giantmicrobes I do have a new thyroid.
Final thoughts
I went on holiday for whisky, and good company. I didn’t expect to leave with a scar on my neck and different outlook on life.
And to the NHS especially NHS Scotland—you are national heroes. Not just in theory, but in action. I’m only alive to tell this story because of you.
- Some of the bits I don’t remember I’ve kindly had some gaps filled in by the friends I was with, my family who came to Aberdeen and the ICU Diary I was given. ↩︎