My Hospital Diaries

Well, shoooooot. I'm back in the hospital with pulmonary embuli, AKA blood clots in the lungs. Didn't see this one comin. Yesterday, my mom and I were out with the girls getting some Christmas shopping done (since that was about the first opportunity I've had), and I just felt super weak. I couldn't stand up straight cuz I felt like someone was digging their fist into my ribcage/chest area. I had to park it in the shoe department of JC Penney while my mom looked around for me, and when we got home I crashed in the recliner and just felt yucky.

I called my primary care doctor, but he was booked and they said my options were the ER, Instacare, or I could get my vitals taken by a nurse. My mom and Jake both thought that I'd better just go to the ER to be safe. Jake drove home from work to come pick me up, but by the time he got home, the IB Profin I'd taken had kicked in and I felt better than before. I told him it probably wasn't necessary to go, and that I didn't want to drive all the way out to LDS Hospital for nothing. But he insisted that it was better to get checked and be sent home, than to not go at all. Fiiiine. So 45 minutes or so later, we finally checked in to the ER and got various tests. They did a chest x-ray to make sure there wasn't air from an esophagus leak again, but everything looked good. They took my blood and said the levels were a little elevated, and while they thought it was probably from recent surgery, they did a CTscan to be sure.

About 3 weeks ago, the ER doctor had come into my room with a downed look and told me that I had a hole in my esophagus. This same doctor walked back into the room yesterday and shook his head and apologized that I indeed had blood clots in my lungs. WHY ME! After all I've been through, why do I have to have another random life threatening complication tacked on, a week before Christmas nonetheless!

The doctor told us that I'd have to be admitted, and get started on blood thinners, and that I'd probably be in for 4-5 days. Jake and I just looked at each other wide eyed and gasped. I'd thought maybe overnight or something...I guess I didn't really understand the severity of this complication. I don't know how many clots I have....but I think they're in both lungs, and now I'm taking shots twice a day and a pill called Coumadin once a day. The pill thins my blood to get rid of and prevent more clots, and I'll have to continue taking it for 6 months to a year, with weekly and then monthly blood tests at my doctor's. And then this does put me at risk for future blood clots, especially after childbirth, in which case I'd have to take blood thinners for life.

It's amazing how so much can pile up in just a few months. Just in this past year, I developed numb hands and feet and itchy legs, the inflammatory disease Iritis, anemia, was diagnosed with Achalasia, had a hole in my esophagus, a UTI, yeast infection, intestinal infection from being in the hospital, bad hair loss, weight loss of almost 40 pounds, and now blood clots in the lungs. *whew* That's a load. I'm glad God built me strong! This body has gone through the ringer, but it's a fighter! We'll get through this.

The past week, after getting out of the hospital on Wednesday, it was SO nice being home. Jake drove me home that day, and I walked in to a piney smelling beautifully decorated house, with soup on the stove and Christmas music playing. It was like Heaven! Cami jumped up and greeted me, and Lexi was there with my mom looking so precious, and my heart felt full. It was so nice to sit by the Christmas tree and start to really feel the Christmas spirit.

The things I DID get to do in the past week were wonderful. We went to RC Willey on Saturday and got some deals, and Cami and Lexi got to take their picture with Santa. I got to go to sacrament on Sunday and see all our sweet ward members and feel their love, and met with the Bishop and Stake Presidency member to renew my temple recommend. What wonderful men who are in tune with the spirit. We took a drive that night to Jake's aunt's house to pick up a wheelchair for me to use, and drove around a bunch of neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights.

On Monday, we went to the library so Grandma could read lots of books to Cami, and then that night we met Jake and enjoyed lots of Christmas festivities! We went to the Grand America Hotel to see the retail shop windows and giant candy gingerbread house, and we all got free yummy butter star cookies at the bakery for completing the little scavenger hunt they have for kids. We also enjoyed some gelato from the bakery- YUM. From there we went to Temple Square (Jake pushed me in the wheelchair all night- it was great!) and enjoyed the lights and some soup and rolls at the Lion House restaurant. THEN we stopped at Hatch's Family Chocolates by the hospital and got their super rich hot chocolate and a truffle. It was quite the night! But I loved it, and am so grateful I didn't miss out on those things.

Mom helped me (she made most of it) make different kinds of fudge on Tuesday, and the next day before all the crap went down is when I got some good Christmas shopping done. So at least I've enjoyed part of the season! I just love love love this time of year...the lights, smells, treats, family, gift giving, nativities, get-togethers, music, peaceful feeling, and the amazing spirit of remembering why we're celebrating in the first place.

I appreciate the fact that there's a decorated Christmas tree down the hall by the nurse's station with a bunch of paper stockings hanging. Makes it feel more like Christmas. I'm hoping and praying that this will be my last surprise hospital stay, and thatI I'll be out in a few days and home for Christmas!