1st Quarter

This has been a rough year. We've just finished the first quarter and it's not over yet!!

January started with a new addition to the family--my sister had her daughter--Ella Marie and it was such a beautiful thing. I was so happy and honored to be there. She did such a good job!!

But, while I was at the hospital with her my left leg started hurting--my calf. It hurt so bad I could hardly walk. I didn't want to bother my sister so I just took a Tylenol and helped her push (coached her) that baby out.  About an hour after Ella was born I left the hospital and went to my doctors office.

My doctor sent me to the hospital to get an ultra sound. Acute deep vein thrombosis. Yep, blood clot in my calf. I went back to her office and she prescribed Xarelto. I went to the pharmacy to pick it up--$800 was the charge.

WTF!!!

Of course I couldn't pay that so the pharmacist signed me up for a prescription card, but before doing that I had to spend about 3 hours on the phone with my insurance company because I hadn't paid my bill and my insurance wasn't going to cover it because it was the beginning of the year. They finally figured out my billing and I had my blood thinner for $10.

My doctor sent me to a specialist--hematologist. He wanted to convince me that my condition was chronic. I refused to accept it so he did tons a test and one was positive-Lupus Anticoagulant. There is a protein in my blood that is causing it to clot abnormally. I seem to think that all of this is because of my dire situation over the holiday season. I was depressed and in the bed constantly and I ate constantly. I was a MESS. I gained 15lbs and I felt like crap. But here I was, now in a medical mess.

After that diagnosis I needed a "come to Jesus meeting." I contacted a counselor and started trying to get myself together.

At the beginning of March I decided that I needed to start back working out. So I did and a few days later my heart was just palpitating constantly. I wasn't having a panic attack. I wasn't stressed any different from before, but it wouldn't stop palpitating. I called the hematologist and he told me, emphatically, "Go to the ER!"

WHAT? WHY? I feel fine.

I went and when I walked through the doors it was filled with sick people. This didn't look good. While sitting in the ER I started having all types of symptoms--I started belching and farting, hot flashes so bad that I wanted to come out of my clothes, then chills so bad that I couldn't stop shaking. I almost passed out twice. It was bad and I WAS SCARED. I called a friend and she sat with me. The did an EKG, despite my shaking chills, the was normal. Everything was normal. There was no explanation for my symptoms. They sent me home.

I made an appointment with my dr and she sent me to a cardiologist. He scheduled a stress echo and a holter monitor which both came back with nothing wrong with my heart.

That was the first quarter of the year.