The Worst hotel ever and the Best bed ever

 A week ago, I went in to the doctor to help me out with what I thought was a pinched nerve. 

A little back story: Mid January I had pain in my back, which radiated over my shoulder and around front. After a few days of pain meds, and running around in the school kitchen, it loosened up. Later I got a pinched nerve in my left sciatic nerve. A few days of sitting on ice and pain meds, it felt better. But sure enough that pain that was on my right side moved to my left. I had no idea what was going on or if the doctor could help me. But I had to try. 

We started off talking about chiropractic help but she said she wasnt allowed to recommend that. She thought maybe muscular/skeletal issue so was going to recommend physical therapy .She just wanted a picture, so I went to another room for an XRay. 

I came back and she said she found fluid in the pericardium. Even I knew that wasnt right, and my mind went to lupus or something. But she ordered an EKG. My heart?

She said I was tachy, which is doctor speak for fast heart beat. That was all she needed to send me to the ER to get a CT scan. She suspected blood clots. WHAT?!

So nervous, I headed out to the Hospital and called my hubby. I asked if he could meet me there because I was starting to freak out. I could barely get it out that I was in need of a CT scan suspecting blood clots. He said he'd be there. 

I got there and texted/called my manager to let him know I was gone and would keep him posted.

I was directed to a room where they did a second EKG because the one from the doctor didnt show up yet. It was a little slower but still high. Rob met up with me then and we went to an ER room. 

There they tested me for covid. That test. Boy. It's like sticking a stick of hot pepper up your nose... you really want to sneeze. But it was over soon enough. 

 They put in an IV and gave me pain meds in the IV plus a lot of saline and a pain patch on my back. It was in spasms by then from having to lay directly on the pain point. 

Finally after a bag of saline plus the pain med, they put me in the room for a CT scan. The dye makes you feel hot in the back of the throat and groin. Very strange but it's short lived. 

You sit under the famous Donut of Truth while they have you hold your breath/breathe several times over until they have the pictures. 

Wheeling back to the ER room, I asked if it was possible I would be let go before 4pm if all was okay because I had a final exam to get to for Plated Dessert class. The nurse said she didnt think so, the CT Scan can take an hour to evaluate. 

I texted the Chef and let him know. 

Maybe 20 mins later, a Cardio pulmonary doctor met me and said I had blood clots in both lungs at the bottom lobes, also known as Pulmonary Embolism/ PE. 

My eyes widened and I asked, what do you do for that? I couldnt imagine. Since they were smallish and in the bottom, you go on a blood thinner. 

Enter Heparin, an iv form of blood thinner. They asked if I was on birth control, I was, continuously actually. They said you have to stop that immediately. I called my OB/GYN and let him know. 

I was admitted in the hospital at that point and would have to say good bye to Rob once they let me up there. I called my Mom, now that I had some answers. I knew the moment I did, she would begin worrying about me and for a very long time. 

The covid test came back negative, and I was able to go up. They wheeled me into a room with my roommate for what would turn out to be 5 days. 

The next tests were to check for clots elsewhere in my body, first a test on the lower half with ultrasound, then one on the top around my heart. Both came back negative for clots, but we did find swollen lymph nodes in my groin. I didnt like hearing that either. 

The plan was to manage my clots by taking blood thinners, and I got an education in Warfarin/Coumadin.

 I had two other possible pill forms of blood thinner however Eloquis was $290 copay, and something that started with an L was administered by giving shots in my stomach, which I would need to do. There was no way. 

Anyone on Coumadin/Warfarin will tell you, its a high maintenance medication. The dosage can change a few times a week until you settle into a dosage. You also need to be consistent with your diet of leafy greens/alcohol/grapefruit/cranberries/canola oil/and blue and black berries because they all either contain vitamin K and negate the medicine or make the blood too thin themselves. You also cant take Ibuprofen... Id' been living on Advil lately! Id' have to change to extra strength Tylenol.

My vitamins even contained Vitamin K, so I had to stop using those and will need to look for one without, apparently they do exist. 

Valentines day was fast approaching and I had plans with Rob for dinner. I was hoping to get out by then but my IRN number wasnt going very high and I suspected I would miss it. I told him to cancel. 

By Sunday morning, Valentines day, however my number was right where it needed to be. The plan then to get a final CT scan to look again at the lymph nodes and then go home, getting the results later. 

Keep in mind Ive now spent 5 days in a place where blood draws are every 8 hours, blood pressure and pulse are taken every 8 (i think) but a different schedule it seems, and my roommate had many things wrong with her, so she would get a visit from a doctor at midnight. One of her issues was she didnt hear well. Every statement was met with "HUH?"

The man across the hall was either hacking up a lung or shouting "HELLO" to find a nurse. He didnt understand the call button at all. Another person was moaning in pain. 

Then you have my IV machine was beeping every few hours that it ran out of saline or heparin or was having a moment of some kind. It even beeped if I bent my arm the wrong way. I learned how to reset it myself when that happened. 

And I had a heart monitor, which is like having a tether hooked up to your chest with these gel stickers that it turns out my skin was allergic to. If you know me this is not surprising. We ended up having to move the monitor stickers every morning, and by the end I looked branded with all the sticker burns. They could not get their hands on the hypoallergenic ones. Sponge baths were a challenge and showers were out. 

To summarize, I was exhausted from lack of good sleep, poked and prodded  and desperate to get home. I missed my family. And my dog. And I hated being in a gown, I wanted to get DRESSED.

I was given two big cups of dye stuff to drink. 

The nurse who told me my numbers were right, came in and removed my heart monitor and the itchy stickers. Then she removed the IV. Mistake!

I got wheeled down to the CT Scan room and they said where is your IV? We need to put dye in the IV!

So the lady downstairs tried to put an IV in my left wrist. It blew out. Then she tried the right wrist, and that blew out. I didnt know what that meant but it hurt. I imagined it would bruise.

They sent me back up stairs to get an IV again. The nurse was so apologetic for taking out the IV. It was then that I learned you cant put one in where you just had one, so they had to put it in my left forearm. 

The runner brought me back down, telling me stories of his life and his fiancée. In fact everyone there was nice, and I didnt blame the nurse that messed up. She was so happy for me she didnt think about it. 

I got back down, got my dye and my scan, then went back up to go home. I finally got a wheelchair, said goodbye to my roommate and met my husband at the front door in a wheelchair. Freedom!

At home, I puttered around, putting things back where they belong, taking stock of the house, hugging Rob, the dog, the cat, and Andrew. Then I climbed gratefully into a bubble bath. 

Just as I was putting lotion and creams on my poor skin, I heard Rob talking to someone on my cell. It was the doctor saying that my scan was fine but they found a blood clot that the ultrasound missed, near my artery. They were worried that it may need a procedure to blast it with drugs to ensure it didnt reach my heart. I had to go back. They were getting me a room and would call me back when it was ready. 

Depressed now, I got dressed, and started packing again. Rob was getting me dinner but I honestly never felt less interested in food, even if i was hungry. I hemmed and hawed and finally chose a cheeseburger, which I didnt finish. 

Waiting now for the phone call, I laid on the bed, my head on Robs shoulder. It was as good as it could get given the circumstances. I relished that little bit of time before we headed back to the hospital. 

I had to walk through and register again, get temp checked again, and actually wear a visitor sticker to get to my room. It was a private room with an amazing bed that not only moved in 4 places but was adjustable in firmness. They also could weigh me with it. Pretty slick. Once you sat down in it, the bed conformed to your body. Talk about posh!

It was a hollow feeling however, because the room was empty of people, it was cold, and I was really lonely by then. The nurses barely came in and I had little idea what was going on. 

The guy tried to give me an IV, (remember all that poking earlier?), and couldnt find a good vein that hadnt already been mauled. He called in a specialist who found a spot just next to the last one in my left forearm. It even took him several tries to find that. And it was ok but started bruising by the next day. All this to put me back on heparin while they figure out what to do. 

The next morning, I talked to them about visitors since it was now Monday and the first day they were allowing one visitor per day. The nurse hadnt heard and said I couldnt have one. I had planned for my daughter to come, and it wasnt the best news. Other than a good nights sleep in a good bed, there wasnt much redeeming about all this. 

After breakfast that I didnt order but was really good, the nurse came back and removed the heparin. Then while talking to my daughter on the phone, CVS called to tell me about a prescription. I thought maybe i was going home and not having a procedure afterall. By then I knew better than to get excited. 

Finally, my doctor showed up to say since I was therapeutic already with warfarin I didnt need the heparin and she'd ordered it to be stopped. The IRN number can go too high, too. 

She said she was waiting on the docs to make a decision on my path, and would find out. She didnt know why they even made me come back and thought they would let me go home. 

Meantime the nurse that took out the IV earlier that day came in to visit, saying she couldnt believe i was here again! It was so nice to know that she liked me enough to find me and come see me. She'd been a nurse as long as I had been doing my own job.

Later, the (I think heart/lung?) doctor came by and explained that while I did have a clot it wasnt life threatening and the fix was to do what I already was doing, blood thinners. He wanted to see me in 3 months, and unless I had swelling I wouldnt need to come back. 

I just had to wait now for the nurses to process me, remove the IV line, and let me go home. By then my daughter was there and we had a grand time chatting and laughing. What a morale booster she is. 

Finally Finally they let me go home, and we packed up and got ready to leave. The wheelchair was taking forever, so I asked at the nurses station if I could just go by foot.  Daughter had to get to work and I needed to pick up my pills at the hospital pharmacy. 

They were ok with that since they gave me the option earlier, to walk, and we turned the corner to go to the elevators when the runner showed up with my chair. So i got a ride anyway. Why make him come all the way up for nothing. Besides I really didnt know where I was going. 

It took a while for me to get settled back home, to really believe it. Two days later, today, I can relay all this to you, dear readers, now that I have. 

It helped to get back to normal routines, going back to work virtually, talking to my coworkers and friends. Making dinner. Making pretzels. Making plans. 

During all this, what helped the most were the zoom calls and phone calls. Second to the many many texts and emails. I never felt alone, which really helped.

Now I sit here in my chair, contemplating a makeup final exam for my culinary class this Friday, and my next 5 weeks of Plated Dessert part 2, I'm glad it was only a hiccup in my life, and it can continue on much in the same way. 

Did I learn anything? 

Yeah. I think that I need to prevent stress so my heart rate doesnt jump up. I didnt mention this in the story but when I found out I was going home the first time, as I was getting cleaned up, the nurse checked on me because my heart rate had jumped to 140. I was nervous/excited enough to do that to myself. And because that felt normal I realized Oh.. I probably do this to myself a lot. 

Deep breathing, stretching, and not trying to make things perfect are beginning to be part of my life now. 

I also watched a few episodes of The Irwins, and the show and really their lives revolve around Steve Irwin's life mission to ensure that people see all animals as worthy of love,  not just the cute ones. And if we value them we will be more apt to ensure they keep their environment up so they can live on. 

So what I wanted, after watching that, was my own life mission. I formed an idea while I was there, around growing food and using it to cook, and teaching others how to do that. 

If there was a purpose to me getting these clots, a bigger purpose, then it was to maybe take myself a little less seriously, and to really enjoy my friends and family more. 

Here's to sleeping in my own bed!

Vicky