I had hoped to be back blogging a few weeks ago but I started having some headaches (and a bit of Harry Potter fever) plus a nice visit with my grandma that interfered. Then the bad thing happened...
I thought I had a bad chest cold last week. I got on some antibiotics but by Friday night, I was in pretty bad pain. At 4:30 AM on Saturday, I drove myself to the emergency room (Jeff stayed home to watch Aidan). I thought I might have a touch of pneumonia or perhaps some bruising from coughing so hard. 15 hours and 3 radiation exposing and somewhat painful tests later, I was admitted to the hospital with blood clots in my lungs. Several of them.
Ugh. Fortunately, I was given blood thinner (and finally a bit of pain medication on hour 17) and the next morning my pain was gone. It was replaced by nausea but who cares. I was able to come home Sunday afternoon. I have to administer injectable blood thinner for about a week and will be on Coumadin, a blood thinner for perhaps a year.
What caused the blood clots? Not entirely sure but it sounds like a combination of a hormonal problem I have called PCOS and the treatment I was on for it which was Yaz, a birth control pill. However, my OB/GYN thinks I need testing to see if it is a genetic problem. There is lots more to the story that I won't bore you with.
How am I now? Grateful. Blood clots are nothing to fool with. Left untreated, they most certainly can be fatal. I'm surprisingly in a good mood. I'm still coughing a bit and have a shortness of breath but, quite frankly, I'm alive with a chance to make things right (eat better, exercise, laugh more, etc).
So don't mess around with your health. Be on top of things. Don't assume your doctors know everything about you. Have an advocate around if you aren't feeling well.
I didn't want to leave a picture up of a nasty blood clot so I thought I'd share one of Toulouse, doing what he does best --looking beautiful.
You sound like one tough cookie! Hang in there Tiger!
;-)
Posted by: theresa | January 07, 2008 at 01:21 PM
Oh my gosh-this is way more serious than you are letting on to! The same thing happened to me after I had Eliza and I was in and out of the hospital for a month and on Coumadin for 6 months. People die all the time. I am so glad you are still with us!!
Sandi
Posted by: Sandi Henderson | September 21, 2007 at 09:51 PM
gosh! blood clots are scary. so glad to see that, for the most part, all will be well. take care.
beautiful kitties!
Posted by: Laura | August 11, 2007 at 08:02 PM
oh how scary! i am glad you were able to take care of yourself. now, continue doing so!
p.s. that is one lovely cat!
Posted by: ren | August 07, 2007 at 05:40 PM
I'm so glad to hear you went to the dr.! Take care of yourself and feel better soon.
Posted by: stacy | August 07, 2007 at 02:58 PM
Oh my goodness! A bad thing happened indeed. You must have been so scared driving to the ER alone. Very glad they found them and that you are on the mend. Be good to yourself.
Posted by: Jennifer | August 06, 2007 at 08:59 PM