Monday, July 22, 2019

My Health Scare--10 Years Later

Rachel was born via c-section on June 18, 2019. I had to have a c-section because she was breech, and they couldn't flip her. Birth went well, recovery went well, everything seemed fine.

Two weeks later I started feeling some pain in my left calf. I thought I had just overdone it that day, so I rested. But the pain continued to worsen over the next few days, so I made an appt. with my OBGYN. She took a look at my leg, said it was just a sprain, and i'd be fine. I continued on for weeks in that pain, taking the 800mg of ibprofen she had told me to take. I thought it was very strange how my leg hurt so badly, although mostly all I had done those past few weeks were rest, try to recover, and breastfeed Rachel. 

On July 22, Arnold and I dropped off all 3 kids with his parents to go to dinner and do a little shopping for Caleb's upcoming birthday. While we were sitting in the parking lot, I noticed I had some chest pains. I told Arnold and he said it was probably just heartburn from the Wendy's we just ate. I said ok and went onto shopping, but still felt strange. We went to pick up the kids and I was sitting on the couch feeding Rachel a bottle before we went home. All of a sudden the chest pains came on strong, I felt sweaty, tingly, and not at all "right." I told Arnold to call 911. He hesitated, but did it. The paramedics came out to my inlaw's house checked me all over and said I looked fine. They said I was probably having a panic attack. 

Something inside me was STILL bothering me, telling me to check this pain out. So I insisted Arnold take me to the ER himself. His mom watched the kids, and his dad, my mom, and brother all met us at the hospital. The drs. did test upon test on me, EKG, bloodwork, Xray, all kind of things. They also said I just fine. Right before leaving though, the dr said he wanted to run just one more test to check something. They took me back to get a CT scan and then we waited. I was getting dressed and fully ready to walk out the door when a dr rushed back in and said get in this gown! Get into bed! We need to get you admitted! Arnold and I were both shocked, we were trying to process what was going on. The dr said the CT scan showed that my lungs were covered with bloodclots. It turned out the pain in my left leg had been a bloodclot, and going weeks without treating it had caused it to break apart, and little bloodclots spread through my body to my lungs. The dr said I was incredibly lucky none had gone to my heart, brain, or blocked off my airway. He said most people die from pulmonary embolisms (technical term.) And he said that age must have been on my side (I was in my early 20s still.) 

So there was a whirwind of the dr getting my hooked up to an IV, giving me morphine for the chest pains and to calm me down, and they pushed me on a stretcher to the elevator, and we went up to the CCU. On the ride up the elevator the dr was asking me all sorts of questions like if I had a living will and what should they do if my heart stopped? The ONLY thing keeping me from panic at that moment was the morphine. I'll be honest, I felt pretty "high" at that moment. They got me admitted into a room in the CCU, with open doors, facing the nurses desk so they could keep an eye on me throughout the night. They said STRICT bed rest, so the bloodclots couldn't move around. I had to use a bedpan because I couldn't get up to go to the bathroom. They hooked me up to an IV of Heparin (blood thinners) to protect me, and said I would be there for quite a while.

I ended up spending 8 days total at Frye Hospital, in the heart tower. The doctors took great care of me and I am grateful. I spent most of the week pretty sedated and didn't do much, but I do remember a few things. I remember not being able to shower for that entire week, I was given sponge baths. By a MALE nurse! I would have been so humiliated, but again, I was on some very good drugs ;) I remember children and babies weren't allowed in the ICU, but they made an exception for Arnold to bring Rachel in to see me, for a few minutes, since she was only 4 weeks old at the time and I missed her so much. I remember my mom standing by my bedside holding my hand, and begging me not to die. I remember my dad coming to visit me and brought me a M&M mcflurry. He's a man of little words, but that gesture meant the world to me. He used to bring me those when I was in highschool and he picked me up from football games. And most of all I remember how great Arnold was-- he used up all his vacation time trying to take care of our 3 kids-- who were only 4 weeks, almost 2 and almost 3 at the time. The rest of the time my parents watched the kids so Arnold could work. He'd do a full day with the kids, and a full night of work, just so we could make it financially. I owe him so much for how amazing he was during that time. It was so incredibly hard. 

ANYWAY! Eventually they let me out of the hospital, 8 days later. They said I seemed healthy enough to go home, and the clots seemed to have disolved quite a bit. They said Arnold had to continue giving me heparin shots in my hip every night, for a few weeks. Then I had to take coumadin (an oral blood thinner) for a year after that. I ended up getting bloodwork done soon after that, to see if I had the gene that made me more likely to get bloodclots, but the test came back negative. Turns out the bloodclot in my leg was a freak thing. Well not really, since bloodclots are common after surgery, and I did spend a lot of time sitting feeding Rachel. But I know lots of people who had multiple c-sections with NO complications at all, and I was very young and pretty healthy.. so I guess I was just lucky ;) 



So my reason for writing this, 10 years later is to say thank you to so many people. Thank you to the drs and nurses who took good care of me. And to my husband who worked so hard to make sure everything was ok. To our parents for helping watch our kids. For everyone who prayed for me. I could have so easily died from those clots, and the fact that I didn't has shown me that God wasn't ready for me to go yet! I am meant to be here for my hubby and kids, and I don't know what all I'm meant to do in this life but I'm trying to figure it out!!

I also want to tell all my girl friends to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! I knew all along something didn't seem right at all, but I let everyone convince me I was fine. I found out later that my OBGYN should have given me a leg ultrasound that day! And if she'd caught the clot, it could have saved me the 8-day hospital stay, thousands of dollars, and a near-death experience. For the longest time I was so, so bitter about that dr not caring about my health. I have since changed OBGYNs and urge all my friends to be proactive in your health and make sure your dr truly cares!






This was the day the nurses "snuck" Rachel in my CCU room to see me, and let me give her a bottle. I am forever grateful for their kindness. Looks like a typical after birth photo, but no, it was me in a tiny CCU room, weak, pale, and pretty much out of it. 







This is what my hip looked like while Arnold was giving me bloodthinner shots every night after I came home. He said he HATED having to stick me (poor thing) but he really did a good job ;) 

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Thankful Thursday




1. Im thankful for the time i've been getting to spend at home with the kids this summer. We have done a lot of fun things, and I can tell Rachel enjoys the time with me especially-- she likes to ride with me to do simple errands even.

2. I'm thankful for how well this Early Ed class is going! We only have 19 days left! I have a wonderful grade in there so far, and I hope it stays that way. I turned in a big project last night and that hasn't been graded yet.

3. I'm thankful my mom is doing a lot better lately! She had surgery back in March, and has had a hard time getting around for awhile, but things are improving! She and my Dad went out of town for a few days this week, and I hope they have a great time!

4. I'm so thankful for mine and Arnold's spiritual life going SO much better lately! We of course found a new church we love and became members. We both downloaded the YouVersion Bible app and it's awesome. Every night we do a couple devotional together and pray. I also do a mom devotional every morning. We have been Christians for a long time now, but we weren't doing all the things we should have been doing lately, and i'm happy to be back :)\

5. I'm thankful for Walmart grocery pickup!!!!!! Best thing ever invented. I just bought almost 2 weeks worth of groceries online today, didn't have to set foot in the store once, and tomorrow we get to drive up and have it all loaded into our car. Amazing :)

6. I'm thankful for good friends. My friends have really been here for me lately. They have listened to me whine and vent and cry when things didn't go so well. They celebrated my birthday with me and made sure I felt special. And the other day Joanne and I went to the movies to see the Yesterday movie! It is a Beatles-based movie and it was so good! I'm just so happy I have such a great support system in a few amazing girls.. and I hope I can be the same for them!!

7. I am thankful for such a good air conditioning system since it's been in the 90s for days now!! Our new system was installed a few years ago by the company 72 degrees, and while not cheap at ALL.. it has been amazing!! Brooke complains its TOO COLD all the time!!!! haha.

8. I'm thankful that I have a new job opportunity... I have to wait and see if it all works out, but I am hopeful!! I wasn't really looking for a new job yet, I'm enjoying my time with the kids... but something perfect for me showed up the other day and I had to look further into it! I have an interview later this week, and so wish me luck! I would LOVE the job... but trusting that God knows what's best for me..so we will see what happens!! Will update more later!!! :)

Monday, July 8, 2019

Our Summer Bucket List 2019





1. Go swimming  The kids have done this a lot already! Thanks to family and friends.

2. Visit the science center

3. Skating at Skateland

4. Outdoor concert(s)  We already saw one, hope to see more

5. Have a bonfire

6. Make smores

7. Visit Kool Park  The girls visited with a neighbor 

8. Jump at Defy Hickory  We went to celebrate Rachel's birthday

9. Go see Toy Story 4  We went on my birthday! I wanted to see it most, lol!

10. Visit a splash pad

11. Day trip to the mountains 

12. Go to a Crawdads game  Arnold's company night, so we went then

13. Buy and eat a watermelon

14. Go see the new Lion King 

15. Go see fireworks  We saw them in Valdese, missed the ones on the 4th!

16. Back to school shopping

17. Sidewalk chalk art

18. Summer photo shoot with the kids

19. Celebrate all 3 kids' birthdays- Rach's done, Brooke & Caleb's left!

20. Visit Emerald Pointe Water Park! 

21. Visit the library

22. Write in a summer journal

23. Hike at South Mountain Park 

24. Picnic at the park

25. Have friends over for a sleepover

26. Go bowling

27. Binge watch Stranger Things Season 3  It was good! But sad! 

28. Arts & Crafts Day 

29. Make and eat ice cream sundaes  We did this on the 4th!!

30. Visit the Blackberry Festival 

Monday, July 1, 2019

34 Loves for 34 Years!

Last year for my 33rd birthday I did a list of 33 facts about myself.. this year I decided to do a list of 34 things I love.. Who knows what I'll do next  year ;)





1. Curling up and reading a good book

2. Finding a really good deal at the store

3. Getting an unexpected message/text/letter from a friend or family member

4. Holding a newborn baby

5. Decorating for holidays

6. Date nights with hubby

7. Rewatching old episodes of The Office and The Golden Girls

8. Getting the perfect picture, of our family or the kids

9. Really sweet tea with lots of ice

10. Playing with puppies and kittens

11. Thunderstorms in the summertime

12. Girls Night out with my good friends

13. Finding cute stuff with pineapples or owls on it

14. Walking around Barnes and Noble and checking out all the new books

15. Getting into bed the night we change the bed to nice fresh sheets

16. Going to see holiday lights at Christmas time and fireworks at 4th of July

17. Finding and buying a new shirt that fits just right

18. Watching my kids learn something new or get an award

19. Having a clean house and car (on the rare occasions everyone helps out!)

20. Pelican's Snoballs-- especially the pina colada and wild cherry flavors

21. When my brother comes to visit from Florida

22. Looking back through old photo albums

23. Candles and bath products that are pineapple and coconut scented

24. Getting an unexpected compliment

25. Shopping on Amazon and getting my package 2 days later

26. Rocking out at a great concert, at sunset

27. Reading other people's blog and getting a glimpse into their lives

28. Planning and Throwing really fun birthday parties for my kids

29. Pioneer Woman stuff-- anything and everything- give it all to me!!

30. Singing at church on Sunday mornings

31. When mom cooks me soup when Im sick and lasanga on my birthday

32. A really good nap on a Sunday afternoon

33. Surprising someone with the perfect present

34. Day trips to the mountains