Not What I Had in Mind!

I am so thankful for my little family!

Last sunday I had an annoying pain in my shoulder and when I would take a deep breath the pain would shoot down the left side of my body.  It continued to do this monday but wasn't bad enough to worry about, in fact I was sure it was just a pinched nerve from carrying Armin's car seat or nursing him or a combination of the two.

By tuesday the pain was constant, still just annoying but much, much worse when I would breathe in or yawn.  Emry and I had dentist appointment's that morning and laying in the dentist chair was just a little unbearable, when the hygienist flossed my front teeth I didn't even cringe...my three front top teeth are a bridge and when I floss I have to thread the floss through and the feeling of it reminds me of finger nails being scraped across a chalkboard.  After the dentist we took Jared to Dairy Queen for lunch and while we were sitting eating I let out this totally involuntary little scream because of this insanely sharp shooting pain in my chest, and then it was gone.  Again I just thought it was a pinched nerve.

By tuesday evening the pain was more persistent and I found myself taking shallow breaths to prevent the real intense pain.  That night was full of so much to do, Jared had Young Men's, Myrna was in Lethbridge for an appointment, my dad was bringing our hardwood flooring down from Calgary, and Catherine, my Visiting Teacher was coming to give me the January message.  Before Catherine came out I phoned her to see if she would mind sitting with the kids while I helped my dad unload the hardwood, of course she didn't mind.  When my dad came he could see I was in pain and called Buck, my super, always there when we need him, as well as always willing to help us out, brother-in-law, to come over and help him unload the flooring.  I still went over to the house to turn the lights on for them and to look at the flooring we bought well over a year ago.  I was strictly instructed not to lift anything so I just stood there and watched, I did however open one box and pulled out one board, and it is as beautiful as I remember it being the day we picked it out!!  I carried the one board back to the house with me to show Catherine, and by that time Myrna too!  When I walked in the door I was telling Myrna something but could hardly get my sentences out because of the pain in my shoulder whenever I had to inhale.  She asked if I was okay and I said I think so.  I sat down in the living room to talk with Catherine, only the pain started to get much worse, I found if I stood up the pain was slightly less intense so I would sit back down.  It got to the point where I couldn't get much air in, I could still breathe it just hurt really bad.  Finally Catherine convinced me to go to the hospital and she was taking me.  I told Myrna what was going on and she didn't even hesitate to help me get Armin in his seat or take care of Emry and Calum.  On the way to the hospital I did start to get scared, I was finally feeling like the pain was probably more than a pinched nerve.

Myrna called Jared for me and told him to meet me at the hospital.  He was already in Vulcan with the boys so he beat me there, as soon as I walked into the hospital and saw him I lost it, I started to cry and the look on his face when he saw me made me even more scared.  Trying to tell the nurse what was wrong when I could hardly breathe was quite the challenge, but they were so good and so patient with me.  They quickly put me on oxygen, which I think did help, they also got an IV going with some morphine, they called in the x-ray tech and the lab, while we waited for them the morphine started to kick in.  The chest x-ray went well, the pain was tolerable when I was standing, but when he asked me to lie down on the x-ray bed to do an ECG, the pain was totally unbearable so I sat in the wheelchair for that test.  Both of the tests came back negative for anything serious, heart attack or stroke, so the blood test would be the deciding factor for what would be done next.

My d-dimer was through the roof, so instantly they knew I had a blood clot.  The next step was to give me cumodin as well as an injection of fragmin.  Since I was feeling so much better, the pain was just annoying, I was sure I would be going home, I was surprised when the nurse told me they had my room ready.  Wednesday I was sent to High River by ambulance for a CT scan of my chest and legs.  That test showed that there was indeed a clot in my left lung and it had most definitely travelled from my leg.  I am at a high risk of developing blood clots because I have Factor V Laden, a blood disorder that makes the blood clot a lot easier than it should.  While I was pregnant with Emry I did have a superficial blood clot in my left leg, but with superficial clots there really is no treatment and they are not dangerous or life threatening.  While I was pregnant with Calum and Armin I was put on fragmin to prevent any blood clots from forming, during my pregnancy with both boys the fragmin did its job and I was fine, not one superficial clot.  After I delivered the babies I had to stay on fragmin for six weeks, again I was fine with Calum but not so lucky after Armin.  A week after Armin was born I found red splotches on the inside of my right leg and it hurt to walk on it.  The ultrasound showed that it was only superficial, so I continued taking the shots of fragmin for the prescribed six weeks post partum.  Only a few days after I was done the six weeks of shots, I noticed the same red splotches and pain in my left leg, so again Jared took me to emergency and I was given a big shot of fragmin and a tablet of cumodin.  I was instructed to take the shots for five days, and the cumodin indefinitely until further tests were done.  Well, the next day Armin fell and the doctor at the Children's Hospital told me not to take the cumodin because it could be harmful to Armin while I nurse him.  I also saw my baby doctor that week and he too suggested that I not take the cumodin because I would have to have surgery in the next few weeks to remove the IUD that so conveniently escaped out of my uterus and is free floating in my abdomen area.  Too many risks involved with surgery and blood thinners.  Well, only a couple of days after I finished the fragmin I started having the shoulder/chest pain.  So it was determined that my body developed a deep vein clot since the superficial clot in my left leg was diagnosed.  That superficial clot was quite a big one, the ultrasound tech showed me that it was a solid clot from the middle of my thigh all the way down to my ankle.  I can still see the lines on my leg where the superficial clot was, only it isn't red anymore, it is greyish and looks more like a bruise.  Once that initial dose of intravenous morphine had worn off the pain was back, the ambulance ride and laying flat on the bed for the CT scan were extremely painful.  And again I say I cannot believe how bumpy ambulances are!

I was very well taken care of at the hospital by all the staff, and even little Armin was able to stay with me the entire time.  We had a great time together, whenever I would talk to him he would smile so big and cue and gurgle!  It was nice to be able to spend the one on one time with him, and the nurses absolutely loved having a baby at the hospital.  Since Vulcan no longer delivers babies they rarely see infants.  I am so grateful for small town hospital's, I don't think the city hospital's would have let me keep Armin there with me.

Well I am doing much better, the pain sneaks up every so often, but as my body absorbs the clot the pain will go away, and my breathing is much, much better.  When Jared told the guys at work what had happened and why he needed to leave work early on Wednesday, they asked him if I was going to make it.  And one of the young men at church asked Jared the same thing when he found out the doctors let me come home.  When a blood clot travels to the lungs it is called a Pulmonary Embolism.  Usually, on t.v., when someone dies unexpectedly it is usually due to a Pulmonary Embolism.  What happened to me was indeed very serious but the clot was still small when I went into the hospital and they were able to act fast and prevent it from growing or anymore forming, I do consider myself very lucky.  I was able to laugh at the comments about me making it because everything did turn out good, and the concern really was genuine.

I truly feel blessed!  I have such a wonderful husband who really was as scared as I was, I could feel his love for me radiating through him when he was just standing beside me holding Armin.  I am so thankful for all he did while I was cooped up in the hospital.  He took care of two very busy kids, cleaned the entire house when he really needed to be getting the calves separated from their moms.  I think Heavenly Father sent that really cold snap just so Jared wouldn't have to worry about separating the cows.  He thinks he and Dave could have still done it, but it would have been a lot more work than they needed with Calum, who always takes his mitts off even when it is minus 30, also having the kids out there when this is their first time doing this could have ended in a disaster, and another trip to the emergency room!  I am also thankful for the rest of my family... Arren took Calum when she already had a house full watching two other little boys; Myrna who got Emry off to school each morning, did my laundry and chased after Calum, she even took him Visiting Teaching with her!  And my mom for taking the kids for a day to give Myrna a much needed break.  I am also so grateful for wonderful friends who take Visiting Teaching to the next level, if it weren't for Catherine telling me she was taking me to the hospital I probably would have waited another hour and a half for Jared to come home, or made Myrna take me with all the kids.  Again I am so grateful for all I have been blessed with, without these wonderful people in my life I truly would not be the person I am today!  I am also so grateful for the many prayers I felt on my behalf and for the love and concern of many other family and friends.  I felt bad on Wednesday I had to call my dad and tell him I was the one two facing him.  He had planned on spending the day with Calum while I worked for Myrna at Weight Watchers!  I could tell he was extremely worried about me, and all he truly cared about was that I get better.  I am thankful for my dad, and for the love and concern he shows me, whenever he calls he always asks if I am taking it easy, well dad, for having one perfect daughter, one super busy boy and a new born I think I am taking it as easy as I can!  I do however have a lot of help and a truly wonderful husband who has developed a constant pain in his tummy from all the stress he has been under.

I should explain the title to this post!  I told Jared that the way I received my breakfast in bed for the six mornings I was in the hospital was really not what I had in mind when I pictured getting breakfast in bed!  I also told him I probably shouldn't be complaining that I need a holiday or a break anytime soon after being in bed, in quite a quiet hospital watching the shows I wanted to watch for six whole days!  All in all it was an adventure, another one I can check off my list of things I never want to experience again, but everything is good now, I will be seeing a blood specialist and eventually this wretched IUD will be taken out, but since it isn't bothering me at all, later will be better!