A coma, amputations and a fight for life - Stratford woman’s story of surviving meningitis
IF you’re waiting to see if you have a rash, you’ve waited too long.
Joanna Arnold knows a huge amount about the symptoms of meningitis and their impact on both a person’s body and life after she suffered from the infection 10 years ago.
The condition was not treated quickly enough and caused sepsis, leaving the mother-of-two from Stratford with only a 20 per cent chance of surviving the ordeal. An induced coma, months in hospital, amputated body parts and a family, including two young children, waiting for their mum to survive, to fight for her life, are part of her story.
It’s a story the 53-year-old told to an assembly at King Edward VI School, Stratford, which is aiming to raise £25,000 for the charity Meningitis Now.
Every two years the students nominate a charity to support. Throughout the academic year, they have been holding a variety of fundraisers, including 24 in 24 which saw 100 students and staff run 4km every four hours for 24 hours.
So far, they have raised £21,000, but the school also wanted to raise awareness of meningitis symptoms – early identification saves lives and prevents life-changing injuries.
Joanna also stresses this point. Her symptoms started with a severe headache while she was working as a teaching assistant at Alveston Primary School on a Monday morning in March 2014. She thought it was a sickness bug – something that’s easily picked up in a school – and on the Tuesday morning Joanna was sick. Another symptom came on, a sensitivity to light. Was it a bad case of flu? Wednesday morning arrived.
“My mum came round and rang Rother House surgery,” said Joanna. “After getting off the phone she went into another room and rang an ambulance. It took me to Warwick Hospital and they told me not to worry. They tried to do a lumber puncture but couldn’t do it for some reason. The next memory I have is at 8.30am on Thursday morning being wheeled somewhere and seeing my legs covered in a rash.”
The meningitis, which is an infection of the protective membranes around the brain and spinal cord, had caused sepsis, a condition triggered by a reaction to the infection that causes the immune system to overreact and start damaging the host’s body.
It’s a killer. Joanna recalled the panic of not being able to breath – and the hope that someone was going to do something to help.
Medical staff put Joanna in an induced coma and she remained in intensive care – every possible piece of equipment to support her life was being used.
“Three weeks later I woke up in Coventry Hospital,” she told the Herald. “I had machines looking after my organs and was told I had been given just a 20 per cent chance of surviving.”
The sepsis had taken its toll. Joanna’s toes had been amputated along with half of her left hand. Her right hand was left with a thumb and part of a finger.
When her family – husband Paul and daughters Katie and Lily, who were 11 and eight at the time – visited, Joanna was covered in scars and couldn’t speak after a tracheotomy.
But the girls’ mum was alive and determined to give them as much of a normal childhood as possible, despite her body’s limitations and four months in hospital.
After 18 months Joanna was back at work and learning to adapt where necessary.
“I can drive with a steering aid,” she said, “and I have adapted things in the kitchen – I can use knives which have special handles, like a saw. I can dress myself but I can’t have clothes with zips or buttons and there are some things I’m not able to do such as cut up my own food with a knife and fork, which is very frustrating.”
Joanna added: “Having young children meant I had to make the best of things. They helped push me out of my comfort zone and made me determined to do things.”
Her advice to anyone who has meningitis symptoms is to seek medical advice as soon as possible – “don’t wait for a rash”.
That message – and the symptoms of meningitis – will be highlighted by KES on Saturday (20th April) when the students and staff join the Shakespeare Birthday Parade.
All students will be wearing a Meningitis Now badge and prefects will be distributing 500 credit card-sized symptom cards to spectators along the parade route. They will also be joined by Joanna and her daughter, Katie.
The charity was nominated by two KES students, Katherine Muldoon and Job Estill who both have seen the impact meningitis can have on loved ones.
Katherine said “Following the death of my grandma due to meningitis, my family received support from Meningitis Now which helped us a lot. I became an ambassador for them and through this I have learned more about the disease and what the charity does in terms of raising awareness. Knowing both how vital the charities’ work is in saving lives and how close it was to both of our hearts, we are very grateful to have successfully campaigned for it to be charity of the year at KES.”
Job added: “As my dad was hospitalised with the disease when I was four years old, meningitis has been a prominent illness to me. Meningitis Now offered him support in order to aid his, fortunately, successful recovery.
“However, not only does Meningitis Now work with those affected by meningitis, but the charity's work in raising awareness about the disease is crucial, considering the symptoms are frequently ignored. In this way, the charity's endeavours to reduce the sudden trauma caused by meningitis hold significant importance to me.”
KES headmaster Bennet Carr is also doing his bit to support the charity. On Sunday (21st April) he will be running the London Marathon in support of Meningitis Now.
Find out more about meningitis at www.meningitisnow.org.
The NHS states the symptoms of meningitis and sepsis include:
a high temperature
cold hands and feet
vomiting
confusion
breathing quickly
muscle and joint pain
pale, mottled or blotchy skin
spots or a rash
headache
a stiff neck
a dislike of bright lights
being very sleepy or difficult to wake
fits (seizures)
Babies may also:
refuse feeds
be irritable
have a high-pitched cry
have a stiff body or be floppy or unresponsive
have a bulging soft spot on the top of their head
And it warns: someone with meningitis or sepsis can get a lot worse very quickly.
Web body
The NHS states the symptoms of meningitis and sepsis include:
a high temperature
cold hands and feet
vomiting
confusion
breathing quickly
muscle and joint pain
pale, mottled or blotchy skin
spots or a rash
headache
a stiff neck
a dislike of bright lights
being very sleepy or difficult to wake
fits (seizures)
Babies may also:
refuse feeds
be irritable
have a high-pitched cry
have a stiff body or be floppy or unresponsive
have a bulging soft spot on the top of their head
And it warns: someone with meningitis or sepsis can get a lot worse very quickly.
