......Pulmonary Embolism. What is Pulmonary Embolism you may ask? Well, I will tell you because I learned more about it than I would ever care to know. A few weeks ago at 6 weeks postpartum, I started feeling well enough to start exercising. It felt so great to get out and start walking. Because I haven't gotten a double jogger yet, I put Mia in the stroller and strapped Merek into the Baby Bjourn. We headed to the boardwalk where we do our normal route and away we went. I clocked that we walked about 2 1/2 miles and it felt like a perfect amount of mileage to start out. The next day, I wasn't too sore and so I felt like hitting the pavement again. As I was finishing up my walk, I started to have a little pain in my shoulders but figured it was just a strain from carrying Merek (and the fact that I am so out of shape). The next morning, I started to feel it more in my chest and decided that it would be best to hold off on walking and so I took a couple days off. Over the next few days the pain became more intense instead of getting better. A friend of mine mentioned how she had dislocated a rib once and the symptoms sounded the same. Because it was the weekend, I decided to wait until Monday and go in and see the chiropractor to see if indeed that is what it was. On Sunday night the pain became so intense that I was having a hard time breathing. I was only able to take shallow breaths without feeling excruciating pain. It was making me really nervous and so I decided to get online and type in the symptoms I was having to see what came up. The one thing that caught my eye was blood clots. Just being a few weeks out from having a c-section, it could've been very possible. So, I waited until 6:00 am and called my mom because I had remembered my grandma had experienced blood clots in her lungs a few years ago and I wanted to see what symptoms she had. After telling my mom my symptoms, she told me to immediately go to the ER. I'm so glad I did because a chest x-ray and a CT scan confirmed that I had 2 clots: 1 in each of my lungs. I was shocked. Blood clots? I am too young to be having blood clots.
After the confirmation, I was admitted to the hospital where I stayed for 4 days. The doctor was unsure of the cause of the clots. Because my grandma has had them, they thought it could be a hereditary. Or, the likelihood of them forming from after having the c-section was very high. A panel of blood work was done to determine the cause. I was immediately put on Heparin injections as well as Coumadin to start thinning my blood. My sweet mom jetted down here from Utah so she could be with Mia and Merek during the day while Bryan was at work.
I was finally released from the hospital last Thursday and am already feeling so much better. Before I was discharged, the doctor had mentioned to me how lucky I was I came in when I did because there was a good chance they could've killed me had they been untreated.
During the time I spent in the hospital, I had a lot of time to think and to reflect on my life. I am so grateful for good health and also for modern medicine.....things I will never take for granted as long as I live.
So for now, I am on daily Coumadin and will most likely be on it for the next year. The majority of results from the blood work came back negative, but I'm still waiting to hear back on 2 more tests (one that will tell if I have Lupus and one that will determine if I have Factor V Leiden).
Because of this little incident, we were unable to make it to Utah for Apple Fest. I was so disappointed to not be able to be there for it this year. But, it ended up being a big success and from what I heard, it was a lot of fun too. I'm hoping to get some pictures and post them soon.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
I have Pulmomary what......?
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