In the beginning of August I started to notice that I would have some episodes where I could not get a full breath. I would be sitting on the couch watching TV or about to go to bed and I would have an episode where I was short-of-breath. This would occur about 1-2 times a day with marked dizziness occurring periodically. Finally, Micah convinced me to go to the Doctor who gave me an inhaler thinking it might be asthma related and set up an appointment for a CT scan to rule out any problems with my lungs.
Micah and I arrived at the Kirkland Clinic for my CT scan. This whole week I noticed more incidences where I would experience shortness of breath and dizziness. It was getting worse and so was my anxiety about it. The radiologist came into the room after the scan and told me that there was a clot in my lower left lung and that I had a Pulmonary Embolism. I was in shock. I was very scared and worried about what would happen next. She told me that she would walk my husband and I over to the ER were I was to be seen immediately and admitted to the hospital. We arrived at the ER and within 2 minutes were back in a room where I was hooked on a heart monitor and also given my first dose of Lovenox which is a blood thinner. After 10 hours in the ER, we were put into a room at UAB hospital. I was put on Coumadin and Lovenox to thin my blood. A pulmonary specialist came to see me everyday I was in the hospital. He asked me if I was on any birth control. I told him that I was not on any at the time but I used to be on Ortho Evra, and Ortho Tri-Cycline. He asked me if I had been on any long trips lately, to which I answered no…I have not been on a plane or long car ride for a very long time. He also asked if I had a family history of clots. I had just gotten off the phone with my mom and dad who told me that no one in my family had ever experienced clots, DVT’s or Pulmonary Embolisms at a young age. Dr. Bettacchi then told us I was going to get a Doppler test done on my legs to look for clots, and a EKG to look at my heart. He said that until we have any other reason to suspect, we are going to blame the pulmonary embolism on birth control.
So to end this long story, I am on Coumadin to thin my blood and will be on it for about a year and a half. I am so grateful that it's not worse and that they caught it early enough. I know that through this all my Father in Heaven was watching over me and blessing me with health. I feel so blessed to have a body and I know that as I take care of myself I will get better and as I have a positive attitude I will be able to understand the reason why this happened.
I don't have any pictures from when I was in the hospital but Micah insisted that he take a picture of what the lovenox shots did to my stomach...man those shots burn!
