As you can see the whole version does not fit on the blog, so I have also written it up below to make it easier to read.
David Whitehead is a very rare case of this disease. When I researched it on the NHS website it made it clear that most people that have this illness are smokers and have been exposed to fumes over a long period of time which is not what happened in David's case. There is also no mention of having to go on oxygen or how severe the disease can actually get which made David's story even more unique. I found David on a media contacts website and went to his home to carry out the interview. It was very interesting to see how he has adapted his lifestyle to cope with the demands of the disease. I was also really surprised at how relaxed he was about having to live this way. David was a lovely, genuine man and I hope his interview can raise further awareness of Tuberculosis.
T he familiar sound of the ventilator woke me up from my six hours sleep. I felt the oxygen mask clasped to my face as I was being forced to breathe deeply. I was used to this awakening after being continuously attached to an oxygen tank.
‘David are you ready to get up’ the sweet sound of my wife Anna, who’s my beloved wife of 55 years and my full time carer. We met when I was 24 as her father was the Operations Executive of the RF section in WW2. I was 18 in the Navy when he ordered me to look after his three daughters on the ship, HMS 4th. His eldest daughter who was just 16 at the time, was Anna. I knew straight away that she was the one. We eventually married seven years later.
At the age of 24, the Navy went ashore with the Army in Cyprus. It was very cramped and dirty as we all lived together in a large tent. We all shared bedding, food and diseases. It was here that I caught
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| Anna and I |
Tuberculosis and spent a year in hospital.
365 days of injections into my behind and continuous treatment to kill the bugs was the least of my worries. I couldn’t wait to get back to the Navy. I was being treated by the best team around who had looked after King George VI when he had cancer.
Towards the end of my stay I had an operation that left me with half a lung. I have a scar reaching from the top of my neck round to my side where they opened me up.
Reading ‘My Family and other Animals’ used to make me laugh during that time. I was determined to carry on. I had just enough puff to get me through the Navy physical tests. I was back.
At 27, I developed Ankylosing Spondylitis a form of arthritis that affects the spine. This was not diagnosed for a further 15 years. My spine is locked which forces my head to be constantly tilted forward. It also prevents my rib cage from working properly and causes me to have extra difficulty with breathing. This was extremely painful whilst it was active; but fortunately it went into remission at age 40. I continued to serve in the Navy as Captain of the Air Ministry of Defence. I was very passionate about serving our country and nothing was going to stop me.
I was adamant I would serve in the Navy until I was 55. I was promoted to Sea Commands Captain when I reached 50. This was to be one of the best and worst days of my life.
I found out that 24 Captains were to be removed onto the dry list. I was one of them. The chances of being promoted from the dry list were slim. I was forced to retire from the Navy at 50.
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| Me in the Navy at 18 years old |
I then went on to work for a successful company called ‘Raycord’ selling post war goods such as old radios. I was director of the company and worked there for 15 years.
My office was a large tower block based in London. I had to climb hundreds of steps each day carrying my heavy brief case. My breathing started to deteriorate with age and I started to find climbing the stairs difficult. I always struggled to breathe when I reached the top. It didn’t bother me, as long as I didn’t have to run anywhere. I would always let a bus go rather than run to catch it.
Working in the office became harder and harder. The vents pumped pollution from the city around my office. My lungs were deteriorating quickly.
In 1980 Anna and I bought a house in France. One warm day when the pollen levels were high, I saw my French GP. He was shocked to see me so out of breath and wondered what had happened to me. I had no choice but to go on oxygen at this point. The thought of it worried me but as soon as I got the oxygen, I realised what I had been missing. I was informed that there was no life expectancy at this point. I could die at anytime.
I have a concentrator that filters the normal air and provides me with 93% oxygen. I have them in different sizes to cater for my needs . They all supply me with continuous oxygen through the tube up my nose. If you get more carbon dioxide than your body is used to it can affect the way it functions. I used to constantly fall asleep after I had finished my breakfast which was rather embarrassing. At first, I was only on 2 litres of oxygen a minute but since then it has been deteriorating slowly and I am now on three litres a minute. I have been on oxygen for eight years and I am still alive!
I also have a ventilator that involves me wearing an oxygen mask whilst I sleep. This forces me to breathe deeply and takes out the carbon dioxide from my body. I am lucky that most nights I don’t have trouble sleeping and get around six hours a night.
I don’t have a problem about dying. Young people don’t worry about dying. So why should I? Everyone has to die at some time. No one can escape it.What does worry me is the method of it. I have always had a fear of suffocation. When I was in the Navy, I would always pray that I wouldn’t die from drowning. Now, I live each day terrified that I will suffocate to death.
The GP’s and Specialists have assured me that this will not be the case. They think something else in my body will give up by then. A heart attack would be an easy, quick death. But we can’t choose our method.
I feel like a dog on a lead, but I will not let this stop me from doing anything. We still go on cruises, stay in France for six months and I work for my family’s ‘Trust Fund’ buying and selling houses to raise money for my grandchildren.
I can go on aeroplanes with my oxygen tank, though I get shoved through the food tray hole when we visit the Azores in Portugal. At the smaller airports I am carried down the steep ramp by two lusty men, strapped to what looks like an electric chair whilst I stare at the concrete ground 20 metres below me.
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| Me in my new wheelchair |
I am lucky. I am 80 years old and as far as I know do not have any other defects. My peers have bad hips, prostate cancer and have gone deaf and blind. Some suffer from Alzheimer's. I’m lucky that my mind is still going strong and I can still see and hear the beautiful world. I have my wife Anna alongside me; who keeps the house running, the garden pretty and our family content. I can still drive, eat and
do most things that normal people can do, apart from walk.
I have a new electric wheelchair along with a lift fitted into the car that makes it easier for me to go out in. I have even had a lift fitted into my home. I have tube attachments on each floor of my house that allow me to connect into them as I get out of the lift. Being on the end of a tube continuously is a nightmare as you always have to coil it up wherever you go. I have even had a shower fitted into my bedroom as my lift cannot reach the top floor of the house.
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| My lift and tube station
I have adapted my life well to cope with my disease and I think I am doing rather well. The doctors have never given me a life expectancy, but I doubt I have more than five years left. I try not to think about death and when my time will come. Instead, I carry on going to our lovely home in France, working on the property development and sitting at my desk reading the papers, which is where I spend the majority of my time.
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The most important thing is that I’m happy, stable and able to breath, thanks to my oxygen tank.
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| My main oxygen tank |
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