48 Hours
"You would have been dead within 48 hours" my mother whispered to me last night in the ER, echoing the words of the sonographer who ran the ultrasound on my leg to detect the blood clot behind my knee. My doctor confirmed the truth of that statement a little while later when he told me about a young girl he lost because she came too late to the ER.
It is only by the grace of God that I went to the ER Sunday night. The pain had started mildly on Sunday when I got off the plane in Toronto. I only had a slight limp in my leg when I took the day off Tuesday to see the doctor for a sore throat (the school nurse thought I might have strep). She was more concerned about my leg however, because I'd been traveling and taking a medicine that increases the risk for clotting. So I went right away to get an ultrasound on Tuesday, and it showed up clean. No blood clot. Probably just a very tight calf muscle from climbing those pyramids in Teotihuacan.
I went back to work Wednesday. Altough I couldn't put weight on my leg in the morning, I could walk comfortably with a moderate, noticable limp by mid-day. Thursday morning, however, I burst into tears in front of my colleageus after teaching 1st period. I felt like a baby, crying over a cramped leg! It was so embarrassing, and the limp was humiliating. So, at my mother's urging, I decided to see the Chiropractor. The Chiro told me it was probably just a really stiff muscle, and was causing some misalignment. She showed me some stretches. She didn't want to touch the muscle, however, just in case there was a blood clot, and therefore dislodge it, possibly resulting in a stroke. "You mean I could still have a clot even though I had the test?". It was very unlikely she said.
Friday was a little better, but by dinner time I couldn't even sit and enjoy my pizza I had waited for all week. Saturday I couldn't even straighten my leg at all to do the stretches the Chiro had suggested. I went back to the Chiropractor's office, seeing a different Dr. He thought the cause of the pain was my herneated disc in my back. I left his office to see my regular doctor since I wasn't any better. She was perplexed, as my leg wasn't responding to the reflex test and noted that I also had spongy tendonitis in my knee. She suggested I go to the ER if it got worse, but my mom and I did NOT want to go. We went back for more therapy at the Chiropractor who also suggested that if it got worse to go to the ER. Tomorrow would be Sunday, and it would be the only place open. Em had also mentioned going. But after my one experience in the ER last summer for my back, I didn't think they could really help me.
My Chiro called to check in on me on Sunday, and I said there was no change. He told me to keep iceing the leg. Right after that though, when I went to take a shower, I noticed that my ankle and foot were now swollen, and the pain was creeping up from my calf into the back of my knee and my lower hamstring. "I think I need to go to the ER" I whispered to my parents when I showed them. "We think so too," they immediately agreed.
So after 21 hours in the ER I'm finally home. On blood thinners and Vicodin, and still unable to walk, and therefore work, for a few days. It's really hard being out. I have to e-mail all my plans and make sure copies get made, and worry that my students aren't learning anything. And knowing I have to deal with everything when I get back. A nurse is coming to visit tonight to check my blood and show me how to inject myself with medicine every 12 hours. I can't sit or stand yet, just lie here with my leg propped, waiting for the clot to dissolve. So, feel free to keep me company!
I will never know for certain if this is closest I came in a life/death situation, but it does put things in perspective and I am so thankful to Jesus for keeping me safe!
I am so glad you went to the ER and that you are okay! And don't worry about anything...just relax and let yourself heal. I hope you are feeling better very soon! *hugs*
Audrey, thank God you went to the ER!I hope you recover very soon.
Just as I wrote that I had a slight flashback to you in the hospital in papua new guinea. Did I remember that right?
Man I'm just now catching up on my journal-reading and I'm shocked! That's so scary! I'm so glad you're ok :)