Covid 19 came about in a storm, taking with it many lives and the hopes for 2020.
People who are sensitive, and would struggle to survive are told to stay inside, stay alert and stay safe. But what happens when you catch it? I can’t help but wonder about the lives of people like me who live with life threatening allergies, asthma and a lack of an immune system. Or, people who are actually perfectly healthy, but are allergic to certain hospital equipment, like ventilators? My question is: What’s in place for latex and rubber allergy sufferers.
A long time ago, I used to work for the NHS taking blood samples. I don’t recall the Doctors and nurses using alternatives for people who had allergies to latex and rubber. I don’t even remember people having these allergies. However, within the last ten years or so, more people have started to develop allergies to rubber and latex, and a lot of the time, they don’t even realise this until they go to the hospital and are surrounded by it. Because of this, the doctors have taken more care with their patients. For once, they’re actually asking if you’re allergic to it before they put their gloves on to check you over.
In one of my blog posts, I had mentioned that I had had an anaphylaxis shock and my heart had stopped for several minutes. I woke up in intensive care, with a ventilator over my mouth to help me breathe. However, as it turns out it was doing more harm than good. I didn’t know I was allergic to it at the time, but I knew that it was doing something weird to me. I was trying to figure out how to explain to all the doctors standing over me why I was trying to remove the ventilator, that my chest felt tight, and actually it was doing the opposite of its job. But every time I tried to talk or went to remove it, they had told me to keep still, and insisted that it was the thing that was keeping me alive.
We played this game of cat and mouse for a while. I would remove it as soon as they left to do their rounds with the other patients, but when I saw them coming over again, I hurried to cover my face with the latex mask of death. Once I seemed stable, I was then transferred to a different hospital for further testing. An allergist was able to see me and conducted a patch test on me. Finally the doctor realised that I was allergic to latex and rubber. We were able to figure out why I wasn’t getting much better when I was wearing the ventilator, and why my energy levels were so low when I was wearing it too.
If like me, you’re concerned about your health when being admitted to the hospital because of an allergy-like this, I did some research on ventilator replacement and emailed a clinic in Switzerland, if you want to know more, click on this link: https://www.hamilton-medical.com/en_GB/
Dairy Free Vegan Queen 