It’s been a while since I posted here and as I am celebrating a milestone birthday this year, I thought it’s time I came back.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Jonathan and I survived a near fatal attack of viral meningitis in 2002. I was thirty-nine and on the first day in hospital I wasn’t expected to survive the night let alone be writing about my experience now. I did write about my experiences before, as they happened, and if you’re interested, please just click on my profile, and click ‘posts’.
When I had viral meningitis there was no such thing as anti virals and VM was seen as always a mild illness from which everyone recovers in 2-3 weeks. In fact, the hospital was so confident in the prognosis that they discharged me the day after almost dying.
Three days later I was rushed back into hospital with blood pressure so low the paramedics couldn’t get a reading and with my heart rate dropping through 27. I only remember one part of that ambulance journey and that’s when the paramedic in the back said to his colleague driving ‘we better put the lights and noise on Dave, we’re losing him’.
What followed was a long recovery, I was off work for nearly 6 months and left with a range of after effects including intolerances to caffeine, cocoa, alcohol, nuts, coconut and phenylalanine.
So, did VM crush me? Yes, Yes it did, but I learned to live with what I had in the knowledge that I was lucky to have survived at all. Before VM I was a triathlete, not a very fast one, in fact most people got confused when I competed, especially on the run section, as to whether I was running or doing the mannequin challenge. I noticed that the timekeepers had also changed their stopwatches for sun dials when they were waiting for me to finish.
I have though a lot of reasons to be grateful to the sport of triathlon not least because it was my aerobic fitness which stopped me declining that night. My system was just fit enough to help me and just enough to turn a corner and survive.
So what I have been doing since my last post here and why am I back? The reason is that I know people are still suffering from VM and still being told that it’s a minor illness when for some people it’s nothing of the sort. Recovery in some cases can be a struggle and at times it seems like the struggle will never end, not helped by a sceptical medical profession. I know that feeling, but even with a permanent headache and the other after effects and intolerances, I am, what one of my ex colleagues called me, irritatingly positive.
Why not though, I survived a near fatal illness and after five years away from triathlon I came back. In fact 10 years after I survived meningitis, I completed my first half ironman triathlon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and a half marathon of 13.1 miles). It was painful, very painful as I had an undiagnosed deep set kidney double infection, just because a half ironman isn’t hard enough.
Since then, I have completed 3 more half ironman races with another one scheduled for September 2023 in Belgium. Why Belgium? Because it’s very flat and the last one I did was in Wales, which isn’t. Why half ironman I hear you cry? Well, if you couldn’t drink, couldn’t eat chocolate and couldn’t have coffee then you would do a half ironman just to take your mind off it.
As if having VM wasn’t bad enough I have also had severe pneumonia coupled with sepsis and a blood clot on my lung which went undiagnosed by my doctor for 9 weeks, in fact I ran a half marathon with pneumonia, finished and collapsed over the finish line feeling awful. it was though another 6 weeks before my doctor admitted he didn't know what was wrong with me and sent me to an urgent assessment centre. Eight days later I was discharged from hospital.
But I survived severe pneumonia (I had it again 6 months later), sepsis (twice) and in February 2022 I was diagnosed with cancer. The consultant told me though that the type of cancer I have is 92% predictable and probably wouldn’t progress. Unfortunately, the tumour I have clearly doesn’t read the same books and computer models as the medical profession. I learned a week ago that it has progressed and that I must go through another round of tests and possibly another biopsy.
I had to pull out of a half ironman in 2022 because of the diagnosis, to which my eldest daughter said ‘only you Dad could be upset because you can’t suffer for 7+ hours’. Mind you when I did my first half ironman to celebrate being a 10-year meningitis survivor she said, ‘let me get this straight Dad, you want to celebrate almost dying by nearly killing yourself’. She is nothing but perceptive my eldest.
Was I crushed when the consultant said I had cancer and then again being told it had progressed? Yes, yes I was but after a period of wondering ‘why me’ I realised that that I needed to be positive.
Is VM and then multiple serious illnesses something to be depressed about? Yes, yes, it is but each time with the help of my very patient and gorgeous family I have picked myself up, dusted myself down and looked for the blessings in my life which keep me going. One of which is my passion for Dad jokes like 'there were two goldfish in a tank and one said to the other, any idea how you drive this thing?'
It’s easy to just give in, I know I’ve done it, but none of this is a life sentence if you don’t want it to be. I have the privilege of being a Community Ambassador for Meningitis Now so I have the opportunity to help other people who are on the VM journey, no matter whereabouts they are. If this isn’t a blessing, then I don’t know what is.
By being positive and not giving in I have now nearly reached the age of 60 and I’m still not out. I’m sure there are people who think that I cannot take a hint and that one serious illness should tell me that I should give up. My beautiful and eloquent wife did say to me though, ‘if you were a horse, they would have shot you years ago’. As she puts up with hours of training, me talking about training and doing long distance triathlons when she would prefer it if I did shorter races, I'll give her that one. I know she wants me to do shorter races as she told me. When I replied with 'well where's the fun in that' she looked at me astonished and said, 'do you ever listen to yourself when you say these things, do you ever think I'm about to saying something really stupid?' Fair comment from the gorgeous red-head I have been married to for 38 years this year.
Well, as long as I can swim, bike and run (or doggy paddle, use a bike with stabilisers and crawl) I am going to keep saying 'nah nah nee nah nah' to everything that has tried its best to kill me. I am going to be 60 not out.
Viral meningitis - I'm struggling 
Post Viral Meningitis - Depression?
Second bound of viral meningitis
'It was only viral meningitis' 
Viral meningitis after effects
