Educate Yourselves...

Life is all about ups and downs, but, really, to me, life is about being alive. It's about living...and never, ever taking anything for granted.

On Tuesday night, after a run, I had some excruciating pain in my right leg. At first, I blew it off, as I had just returned from a run. By midnight, I was in so much pain that I was in tears. My dear friend, Sarah, had a blood clot three years ago, after the birth of her son, so I text her to ask her what her symptoms were. Mine were really similar to hers, so she told me to call my doctor. At 2am, I emailed my doctor.

The next day, I was sent to the University of Minnesota Medical Center. I had an ultrasound on my leg. The radiologist sent me to get a CT scan done, using dye contrast. Within an hour, I had an answer. I had two blood clots in my leg. Deep Vein Thrombosis.

The definition of DVT, from mayoclinic.com:

"Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a condition in which a blood clot (thrombus) forms in one or more of the deep veins in your body, usually in your legs. Deep vein thrombosis can cause leg pain, but often occurs without any symptoms.

Deep vein thrombosis can develop if you're sitting still for a long time, such as when traveling by plane or car, or if you have certain medical conditions that affect how your blood clots.

Deep vein thrombosis is a serious condition because a blood clot that has formed in your vein can break loose and travel to your lungs. However, many deep vein thromboses disappear on their own."

The good news is that we caught these clots before they broke loose, at which time they would turn into a pulmonary embolism. (PE's can be fatal). The bad news is that I had to have about 20 vials of blood drawn, a shot of low molecular weight heparin and a shot of lovenox. All on Tuesday before I even left the hospital. To me, it's a small price to pay for being alive. The hematologist told me that if my run had been any longer, he's sure that one of the two clots would have broken loose.

The bad news is that I have to have three days worth of these shots. I had my second round this morning and have another round tomorrow. I have to return to have the tests repeated (ultrasound, blood work, etc) on Monday. The hematologist needs to make sure that the clots are, in fact, breaking up. If they are NOT, they need to place a screen in my vena cava.

I am in a ton of pain and have nothing to take for it, but I'm alive. I'm here. I can still play with my son!

Please, educate yourselves about birth control and the effects that it can have on blood clots. It's scary, scary stuff. I am lucky to be alive today.

You can read all about Deep Vein Thrombosis on the Mayo Clinic website.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/deep-vein-thrombosis/DS01005