'I thought my hubby would die'
Jeremy Sollars | 6th August 2009
A WARWICK woman has told of three weeks of hell for her husband and their family after he was hit with a double whammy of swine flu and pneumonia.
The family, who do not wish to be identified, have joined a growing group of locals critical of the Queensland Health response to swine flu, claiming Warwick Hospital turned their husband and father away even though he was displaying symptoms well in excess of the ?normal? winter flu.
His condition became so serious in the 48 hours after an unsuccessful attempt to get treatment, his wife was forced to call triple zero as she feared the worst could happen.
The Daily News has been told the man, a father of two aged in his late 50s, first became sick after the family returned home from a trip to the coast in the second week of the school holidays with what he took to be regular flu aches and pains.
But by late the following week he was so ill he decided to head to the hospital after becoming increasingly concerned he may have contracted the now-deadly H1N1 virus while he had been away.
?He went to the emergency room that Friday (July 17) but they told him just to go home and take some Panadol,? his wife recalled.
?They basically told him to stop wasting their time and that he wasn't in what they class as a vulnerable group so they wouldn't test (for swine flu).?
She said her husband, who suffers from obesity, deteriorated across the weekend as what was later confirmed as swine flu and pneumonia began to ravage his already-weakened body.
?He was just so bloody uncomfortable,? she said. ?The headaches were constant and he had a constant temperature of around 40 degrees.
?He couldn't eat at all and eventually he couldn't lift his head off the pillow. He could barely move.?
Finally, on the Monday morning, the man's wife could not bear to watch her husband's illness progress any further.
?I had to call the ambulance,? she said. ?I really thought he was going to die - the thought went through my head more than once.
?After he was checked in they told us he had pneumonia and did a swine flu test which came back positive on the Wednesday.
?Then they told him he was lucky to be alive.
?I just feel that if he could have been diagnosed earlier he would have received the proper treatment and got better a lot sooner.?
The man is now reported to still be weak but is recovering with plenty of rest at home, much to his family's relief.
Queensland Health has previously refused to comment on individual patient cases and has provided a standard statement to our enquiries about emergency room responses to Warwick locals with worsening flu symptoms worried they may have contracted the H1N1 virus.
The QH swine flu response website, to which media queries are routinely directed, continues to advise that only those in the ?vulnerable? category have died so far, with 15 Queenslanders having already lost their lives.
Vulnerable patients are considered to be pregnant women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, people with respiratory (including asthma), heart or renal diseases, diabetes, morbid obesity and those with immunosuppression.
The Warwick family's story comes as a critically-ill 16-year-old girl from Townsville confirmed with swine flu was yesterday flown to Sydney to access life-saving cardiac equipment, with all six of Queensland's extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines in use.
The machines are normally used to take over heart and lung function when a patient is undergoing open heart surgery.
Toowoomba Hospital as of last night had two swine flu patients in intensive care, with none currently in Warwick Hospital.
National swine flu cases now top 10,000 with 21 million doses of a vaccine expected to be rolled out nationally in October.
For more information on swine flu visit www.health.qld. gov.au/swineflu
http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/story/2009/08/06/swine-flu-queensland-health-H1N1/
Jeremy Sollars | 6th August 2009
A WARWICK woman has told of three weeks of hell for her husband and their family after he was hit with a double whammy of swine flu and pneumonia.
The family, who do not wish to be identified, have joined a growing group of locals critical of the Queensland Health response to swine flu, claiming Warwick Hospital turned their husband and father away even though he was displaying symptoms well in excess of the ?normal? winter flu.
His condition became so serious in the 48 hours after an unsuccessful attempt to get treatment, his wife was forced to call triple zero as she feared the worst could happen.
The Daily News has been told the man, a father of two aged in his late 50s, first became sick after the family returned home from a trip to the coast in the second week of the school holidays with what he took to be regular flu aches and pains.
But by late the following week he was so ill he decided to head to the hospital after becoming increasingly concerned he may have contracted the now-deadly H1N1 virus while he had been away.
?He went to the emergency room that Friday (July 17) but they told him just to go home and take some Panadol,? his wife recalled.
?They basically told him to stop wasting their time and that he wasn't in what they class as a vulnerable group so they wouldn't test (for swine flu).?
She said her husband, who suffers from obesity, deteriorated across the weekend as what was later confirmed as swine flu and pneumonia began to ravage his already-weakened body.
?He was just so bloody uncomfortable,? she said. ?The headaches were constant and he had a constant temperature of around 40 degrees.
?He couldn't eat at all and eventually he couldn't lift his head off the pillow. He could barely move.?
Finally, on the Monday morning, the man's wife could not bear to watch her husband's illness progress any further.
?I had to call the ambulance,? she said. ?I really thought he was going to die - the thought went through my head more than once.
?After he was checked in they told us he had pneumonia and did a swine flu test which came back positive on the Wednesday.
?Then they told him he was lucky to be alive.
?I just feel that if he could have been diagnosed earlier he would have received the proper treatment and got better a lot sooner.?
The man is now reported to still be weak but is recovering with plenty of rest at home, much to his family's relief.
Queensland Health has previously refused to comment on individual patient cases and has provided a standard statement to our enquiries about emergency room responses to Warwick locals with worsening flu symptoms worried they may have contracted the H1N1 virus.
The QH swine flu response website, to which media queries are routinely directed, continues to advise that only those in the ?vulnerable? category have died so far, with 15 Queenslanders having already lost their lives.
Vulnerable patients are considered to be pregnant women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, people with respiratory (including asthma), heart or renal diseases, diabetes, morbid obesity and those with immunosuppression.
The Warwick family's story comes as a critically-ill 16-year-old girl from Townsville confirmed with swine flu was yesterday flown to Sydney to access life-saving cardiac equipment, with all six of Queensland's extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines in use.
The machines are normally used to take over heart and lung function when a patient is undergoing open heart surgery.
Toowoomba Hospital as of last night had two swine flu patients in intensive care, with none currently in Warwick Hospital.
National swine flu cases now top 10,000 with 21 million doses of a vaccine expected to be rolled out nationally in October.
For more information on swine flu visit www.health.qld. gov.au/swineflu
http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/story/2009/08/06/swine-flu-queensland-health-H1N1/