Andrea McLean faced a nightmarish diagnosis last month, after brushing off her symptoms as just flu. The Loose Women panellist, 55, spent a week ‘sweating and shivering with raging temperature and chills’ before collapsing in the bathroom, prompting her husband to dial 999.
“After seven days of sweating and shivering, with a raging temperature and chills, and pain in my chest and back, my wee turned brown,” she wrote in a candid post on Substack. “I collapsed in the bathroom, and like the adverts you see on telly with the elderly, I lay there for an hour before my husband found me.”
While Andrea was ‘barely aware’ of her surroundings, she recalled how tricky it was for paramedics to reach her, with their bedroom located in the attic up a very narrow set of stairs. On a stretcher, Andrea was lifted into an ambulance and rushed to hospital where she faced several scans and tests.
Doctors soon diagnosed her with severe pneumonia, having lost ‘80% capacity’ in one lung, as well as acute kidney injury and sepsis – all of which can be life-threatening. She was then administered ‘super-strong antibiotics’, painkillers and drips, before being transferred to the Emergency Assessment Ward followed by the Respiratory Ward.
In the latter, Andrea was surrounded by six women who appeared to have dementia. A few of whom were incredibly distressed by her presence, with one demanding to know why Andrea was there and repeatedly yanking on her ‘flimsy’ bed curtain.
Andrea was left ‘terrified’ by the ordeal describing it as a ‘sensory overload’ with bright lights, screams, shouting and the ‘smell of poo’ almost constant. She struggled to sleep here and even asked doctors if she could continue treatment at home.
Despite some initial pushback, medics eventually said she could go home to sleep but must return every day for drips, tests and medication. Although six weeks have now passed and life for Andrea isn’t quite ‘back to normal’ yet, she’s definitely learned something from the experience.
“Note to self,” she penned. “…being a big brave girl and not saying how much pain you’re in when you’ve lost 80% capacity in one of your lungs to severe pneumonia and infection is not a smart move.”
Andrea shared a link to her Substack on Instagram, which soon garnered countless comments from followers eager to express their well-wishes. Actress Beverley Knight, who’s previously featured on Loose Women, was among them, writing: “Sending you huge love and hope you get better soon.”
Meanwhile, one fan drew attention to their own very similar ordeal, explaining: “I had a very similar experience… and it’s horrendous. I so feel for you.
“I never thought I’d feel scared being in hospital for any other reason but an illness … but I too had a lady trying to get into my cubicle, she ripped out her cannula several times as she just didn’t know where she was ….
“And another lady who was convinced she was having a heart attack and just constantly screamed… it feels so wrong to be able to hear what’s happening with everyone else in your ward. So glad you’re home now and on the road to recovery. The memories of being in there will fade.”
Another also wrote: “Wow, sounds awful. I hope you are feeling a lot better now. Take things slowly and recover fully. Look after yourself.”