I was sent home from hospital with trapped wind, but the next day I was fighting for my life. By Charlene Hutchings, 40
When I got home from another evening at the gym, I felt as if I’d earned a treat.
‘Let’s order a kebab,’ I said to my husband Paul.
Our order arrived, and I tucked into my chicken shish kebab. But shortly after I’d finished, I felt a searing pain in my stomach.
I went to bed, hoping I could sleep it off.
But when I woke up, I was still in agony. I’d never felt pain like it, and I was bed bound all day.
By the evening I was no better, and Paul said: ‘I’m taking you to the hospital.’
When I was finally seen, the doctor said: ‘It sounds like trapped wind. Just keep moving and it should pass.’
Back at home, I felt embarrassed that I’d made such a fuss over trapped wind.
But I couldn’t ignore the agony I was in.
Next day, Paul tried to encourage me to move around, but I couldn’t even get out of bed. And that night, he found me dripping with sweat.
In a panic, he rang my mum.
When she arrived, she said: ‘This isn’t trapped wind, you need an ambulance.’
Paul dialled 999.
In hospital, I had a scan which showed there was foam in my stomach, and doctors thought my appendix had burst.
I was taken to the operating theatre to have it removed.
I woke up feeling groggy, and realised that my stomach was stapled from my belly button to my chest bone.
And there was a pus-filled bag by my left side.
‘I was only having my appendix out, what happened?’ I cried.
A doctor explained that there was more going on.
It turned out I’d had undiagnosed Crohn’s disease for years, and an abscess had developed on my bowel.
The abscess had perforated and burst my bowel open.
Everything had spilled out, causing my organs to fuse together, which explained the foam on the scan.
It also caused sepsis. The operation had saved my life.
‘You wouldn’t have survived another 24 hours,’ the doctor said.
I’d been in surgery for over six hours, and Paul and Mum had been worried sick.
The doctors were stunned to learn that my pain had only started two days earlier. Not as stunned as I was. I’d thought I had trapped wind, but now I was being told I was lucky to be alive.
Thankfully, I responded well to my initial treatment, but still life wasn’t easy.
I suffer with arthritis, and need infusions at hospital every month, as well as daily medication.
Since my diagnosis nine years ago, though, I’ve had three children. I look at them and feel grateful to the doctors who spotted my condition and saved my life.
Crohn’s disease
What is it? A lifelong condition affecting people of all ages, in which parts of the digestive system become inflamed.
What are the symptoms? Main symptoms can be constant, or can come and go. They include stomach aches, fatigue, weight loss, diarrhoea, blood in the stool, joint pain, sickness, mouth ulcers and more.
What’s the treatment? There’s currently no cure, but main treatments include steroid medicines, immunosuppressants, operations or liquid diets.
Where can I find out more?
Visit nhs.uk and search ‘Crohn’s disease’.