Breathless

So I was really thinking my life was going to go back to its normal quiet, boring routine. I was done subbing at the school and I was enjoying the thought that my evenings were mine now.

On Tuesday, Sept 18, I noticed that I was feeling a bit gaseous, like I was bloated in my torso.
I went to Soren's soccer game and as I stood up to leave, I noticed that I was a bit short of breath.
I suppose now is a good time to share the news that I was pregnant and so I wondered if the shortness of breath was due to the pregnancy, even though in the back of my mind I knew that was a bit farfetched since I was only about 8 weeks along.

As the night went on, the discomfort continued and when I went to bed that night I found that I could not lie down. AT ALL! Every time I tried to recline my body, my left shoulder area would scream with pain. I ended up going down to the living room so that I would not disturb Curtis's sleep. I slept off and on in the chair there, but it was far from a good night's rest.

On Wed., I took some Gas-X, thinking that if I could just move that gas out of my torso I'd feel better. And I did feel better for a time. I went through the normal things of the day and when it was time for bed, again I could not recline in any way or get much sleep. It's a bit hard to sleep when you have to keep your torso exactly erect.

Thursday morning I decided that I needed to see the doctor. This was obviously something that needed to be looked into, as it just wasn't getting any better. I called the clinic and was given the option of seeing a dr. who was not my normal dr., or seeing the PA. As I pondered who I should see I felt that I should see Dr. R. He is known as Dr. Death since he looks for the big causes, rather than the small ones, first. But I knew that he would listen to me and would check for everything. I knew that he would not just dismiss my complaints. I also spent a bit of time on the internet looking up anything I could think of that would explain torso/shoulder pain. Looked at Gall bladder, kidneys, pulmonary embolisms, pleurisy, heart trouble.

I sent Soren to his soccer game and Curtis and I went to the clinic. When I started explaining my symptoms to Dr. R he immediately was concerned. My dad had heart trouble and when I said I was having pain in my left shoulder/chest area he sent us across the parking lot to the hospital for a check on my heart.

The EKG(?) came out fine, my heart was good. So then we proceeded to take some chest x-rays to look for pneumonia, and some blood was drawn to start running some tests. The arterial blood gas test was incredibly painful. OUCH!! They moved me to a pt. room while they looked at the x-rays and test results. One of the blood tests (D-dimer) indicated a possibility of a clot, or pulmonary embolism and the x-rays showed that as well, so a CT scan was ordered. My good friend LeaAnn was the x-ray tech and was so kind and helpful to me. As we prepped for the CT scan I told her I absolutely could not lie down on the sliding table thing that moves through the CT machine. So they came and gave me some morphine to cut the pain and I was able to lie down for the test. I was then sent back to my room while the CT scan was read.

Dr. R came in after a bit and said, "Well, you called it. You have bilateral pulmonary embolisms." He then talked to us about what they were, what the possibilities/eventualities were and what we needed to do. He left to consult with drs. up north and I was immediately given a dose of Lovenox, which is an anticoagulant that does not harm a baby. It's a lovely shot in the tummy. Another fun ouch! They also drew more blood to run tests on to see if I have a genetic reason to have blood clots. When Dr. R came back to the room, he informed us that we were going to need to fly a bigger hospital. We chose UVRMC since we know that hospital. We have no experience with the hospital in Grand Jct.

We both sat there thinking how crazy this whole thing was. I didn't feel that sick, just bloated. I kept thinking surely we could just drive there and not fly, but Dr.  R did not recommend that. We called my mom  and she happened to be in town, so she came to the hospital with Wendy. It was then we told them that I was pregnant and that it likely contributed to the clots.  Mom said she would stay with the kids so Curtis could fly with me.
About that time, the flight crew came and they and the ambulance crew got me ready to transfer.

To be continued.......