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Thursday, January 22, 2009

Flashback: December 2008

I am going to be using this blog to keep friends informed about the happenings in our lives-good and bad. I had a life changing medical emergency happen last month. It was serious and there were days when my family was unsure that I would survive. I don't see how anyone can be the same after going through something like that. I certainly am a changed woman. For those who don't know what happened to me last month I will explain. For my friends and family who were there just skip to the newest blog entry. :)

Since Oct '08 I had been having tingling and discomfort in my entire left leg. I went to 2 different Dr's and they said it was related to an old back injury which I thought was possible because I had herniated 2 lumbar discs in 2005.

Then I got a respiratory infection in mid Nov '08 that was pretty bad. I had severe chest pain and even coughed up some blood (sorry to the squeamish readers).

I started having more leg pain on Thanksgiving and it got so bad I was unable to walk. My 25th birthday was Nov. 28 and I felt so badly I didn't even feel like eating my birthday dinner. I just wanted to sleep. The pain in my left leg got so bad I decided I needed to see a Dr (that same morning I got on an exercise bike to see if I could "work the soreness out," which was so dumb looking back).
I went to the Dr and found out through ultrasound of my leg veins that I had a blood clot almost the entire length of my left leg starting below my calf and they weren't sure how high it went into my abdomen (we found out later it went almost all the way to my kidneys).

They sent me to the emergency department of a local hospital then to the intensive care unit. I had a CT scan done of my lungs and found two pulmonary emboli. The one in my left lung was small, but the one on the right side was extensive, going into the upper, middle, and lower lobes. They were causing me to have severe pain in my chest when coughing, sneezing, and with pressure. It became very serious at that point, as many people die from a pulmonary embolus (PE). In addition, the pain in my left leg was almost unbearable and they were giving me very strong pain medicine. I was just miserable and scared.

I was transferred to a larger hospital because I wanted a vascular surgeon to perform whatever needed to be done. I was sent by helicopter because I was deemed too physically unstable to transfer any other way. I get severe motion sickness so I took a little baggie with me just in case I got sick. I was wrapped up so tightly on a stretcher and buckled down across my arms, hips, and legs that I couldn't move. I spent the first 5 minutes of the helicopter ride feeling around for my vomit bag and the other 15 actually throwing up all over the helicopter (not one of my finer moments).

When I arrived on the helipad they rushed me into surgery and I met my vascular surgeon for the first time. He explained that he was going to go in my jugular vein and first place a filter in my inferior vena cava to catch any more clots that might break off and go to my lungs and would leave a central IV line in that hole. Next, he would insert a catheter into my popliteal vein behind my knee and try to clean all the clot out with blood thinners and clot-busting medicines. Then "vacuum" all the clotting out.

The first surgery on 12-2-08 (my brother's birthday), the Dr. only could only clean half of the clot out because it was so bad. The next day (my dad's birthday), he took me back to surgery and got 98% of it and was satisfied. I spent 4 days in ICU and 4 days in a room on a Medical-Surgical floor. I was so happy to go home, especially because Christmas was right around the corner.

When I got home my good friends Amber, Jennifer, and Courtney had a suprise waiting. They put up all of our Christmas decorations!!! They are the best. I also was so humbled by the outpouring of love and support I felt from friends, family, and people I didn't know who were praying for me. The prayers are what brought me through that time and I am so thankful to everyone for that support.

Believe it or not, that was the short version. There is so much I am still dealing with daily. The physical and emotional toll this all took on me is sometimes hard to deal with but my faith is being stregthened in the process.

Ok, now I can forge ahead in my blog to present day.

1 comment:

  1. Kristen, please feel free to call or text me if you ever need to talk. I understand completely about dealing with health things daily. There are times when I just feel like it would be cruel to burden close friends or family with things I am feeling or dealing with. So, please know that if you need anything I'm here and happy to listen. -Catherine

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