Lots and Lots of Little Blood Clots

PULMONARY EMBOLISM | HOSPITAL STAY, DAY 1

I’ve been struggling with progressively worsening shortness of breath for the past few weeks, possibly longer, that got crazy bad over the last 3-4 days. At first it was only when I went up the stairs, then I became out of breath from walking around the house, and then from just crossing a room, until I woke up having trouble breathing this morning with my heart-rate elevated.

I went to the doctor’s office (CARES) where they did an EKG, blood work, and took x-rays. My heart-rate was elevated. Doctor Sewell thought one of my heart chambers looked a bit large, but he couldn’t diagnosis me at that time. I asked him if it could be stress to which he hesitantly said yes, and I spent most of the day hoping that this was just a crazy panic attack.

Dr. Sewell sent me to the Tyler Center for more lab work that included D-Dimer, Troponin, and CPK-MB test. He had told me it would take two hours for him to get the test results back so I went home and took a nap. I woke up to the following voicemail from CARES:

…We need to talk to you as soon as possible. We need you to go to the Emergency Room and have some follow up test. ….If you’re already there that’s great, but we just need to know because you really need to go today.

What a message to wake up to! I called back right away and was told my D-Dimer test came back abnormal, that it was elevated which could indicate blood clots, and that I needed to go to the ER to have the D-Dimer redrawn to be sure. 

I didn’t really think about the possibility of getting stuck at the hospital. For some reason I thought I would just walk in, have blood drawn, and then go home and wait for the results. Nope! The staff at RMC did another EKG, more blood work, and a CT Scan (my first) after which a Doctor appeared to tell me I have lots and lots of little blood clots in my lungs. They’re not sure if they originated there, or if they were a bigger clot that burst, but they are why I’m having trouble breathing and why my heart is working so hard. 

I’ll most likely be staying at the hospital for three days to a week on bedrest and blood thinners until things clear up enough for me to go home and take oral blood thinners. I was originally really stressed about how this will affect me getting my school work done since finals are next week, but staying alive seems like the more important priority so I’m going to try not to sweat it. I’ll just do what I can as I can.

Vials of Blood Drawn: 24 (4+3+9+8)
Number of needles placed in my body: 6
EKGS: 2
CT Scan of Lungs: 1
Ultrasound of Legs: 1
Hours spent at CARES: 2
Hours spent at Tyler Center: 1
Hours spent in ER: 6