My blood clot diagnosis (5th part)

Last Friday (8th of July) I went to the Ottawa Civic Hospital for my final ultra sound. The technician took forever to do the test. She took good 10 minutes, and previously it wouldn’t even take 5 minutes to perform. This time it was painful as well. I asked her if there was still a blood clot there, in her opinion. I told her that I understood she wasn’t a doctor, but I just wanted to know what she thought. She said that it was probably almost gone.
Few minutes after, I went to the thrombosis department, where I had an appointment with my doctor. As soon as I arrived there, there was an intern who made me fill out the research questionnaire. After, the doctor’s assistant came in and he told me that I have done a really good job in taking medication and doing my exercises, so they will allow me now to stop the medication as the blood clot is at its minimum and it’s not life-threatening any more.
For the next month I have to be vigilant though, as there is a possibility of it coming back. The doctor explained that once I was diagnosed with the blood clot, it’s more likely to reoccur, specifically in case I am operated. So if I will need a surgery, I would need to get in touch with them.
At the end my specialist came in. He was very happy to see that I’ve done everything they advised me and that now I am on my way to full recovery. He said that it’s wonderful to see that they managed to help me and to see me healthy and doing well. He said it was one of his biggest rewards to witness people recovering and getting back to their normal lives.
I came out of there and as I was walking down those hospital halls, I felt such a huge relieve and a feeling of victory and exhilaration. It was like a survivor’s pride!

My blood clot diagnosis (4th part)

After 3 weeks of tests and my third ultra sound they found out that my blood clot was going up the leg, therefore there was absolutely no other option for me rather than take Coumadin. And if I didn’t I could have had a heart attack. It was now a life-threatening situation, so I gave in. They showed me how to inject myself with it… for me that was an equivalent to becoming a junky. I was resisting all the way. Another challenge was to find the right dosage for me. That was a reason why I needed to keep taking the INR test.
But I was happy because my curfew of staying within 25 kilometers radius of the Ottawa Civic Hospital was over. They finally found the Anticoagulation Therapy for me that would prevent the blood clot. I had to follow the curfew before because they couldn’t figure out the right dosage and the danger of it was too thin blood that would cause excessive bleeding even from a small cut.
And now I am just taking my medication and waiting for the final result that would tell me I have no more blood clot!

My blood clot diagnosis (3rd part)

The next day when I got to thrombosis unit, they told me that I had to go and get another ultra sound test. It was too far away from the thrombosis department to the ultras sound unit, so they put me in a wheel chair. This experience of being on a wheel chair made me feel so old and helpless and handicap. It was such a down feeling of despair…
When I got to the ultra sound department, it was full of motionless people. They looked like they were half dead taking their last breaths. It was very dramatic, especially that I didn’t even look sick and I found myself around people who were literally dying. So at that moment I really got to understand the severity of my situation…
After they made an ultra sound test, I went back to see my doctor at the thrombosis unit. His assistant tried to convince me to enroll in the research department, but I refused because I am an anti-drug person and I consider taking drugs only if it’s absolutely necessary. Needless to say, they were not happy about it, so as a consequence they told me that I had to take 4 blood tests and an ultra sound every week. And that’s outside of the hospital clinic, which was a problem because of the transportation. Imagine Monday morning you have to get to the clinic at 7am, wearing the leg brace and barely moving. It’s minus 25 Celsius outside and you are waiting outside among other 20 people for the door to open. By 8:00 – 8:30 am they take your blood, and right after you have to rush to the physiotherapy for the treatment. That went on for 3 weeks.

My blood clot diagnosis (2nd part)

When I arrived to the emergency room I did not go to the registration. All my paperwork was already done for me and that made me very suspicious that something was majorly wrong here. Fifteen minutes later a technician was performing an ultra sound on my leg. Being a curious person I started asking her all kinds of questions, but she would not answer me and she kept telling me that the doctor will talk to me afterwards.
For five hours there I did not know what was happening. I was laying down there trying to figure out how come that nobody wanted to give me any help right after the accident, but now 6 weeks later I feel little bit of pain and all the doors are open and everybody is so eager to give me attention and care.

Finally five hours later I saw two doctors and they gave me a compassionate look and told me: “You have a blood clot in your left leg and fortunately for you it is not above the knee. Therefore the treatment can wait until the next day”. If it was above the knee they would hospitalize me right away, but it was not the case, so they sent me home with the appointment for the next day with the Thrombosis department. I was clueless of what was happening to me, so when I arrived home I searched the internet and I got what the fuss was all about. Basically if I had the blood clot above the knee and didn’t get to the emergency room, I would have had a heart attack within 24 hours or so. Now I got the message!

My blood clot diagnosis (1st part)

Monday, March-14-11, was like any other day of physical recovery. First thing in the morning I went to physiotherapy at the Riverside hospital. Shortly after my arrival, I got ready on the bed to start stretching my injured leg and after only two movements I felt this excruciating pain in my calf. In sports we tend to think that pain is a good sign for building muscles and we push through it, but in physiotherapy it’s the opposite. And as I did my first movements, I felt the resistance, but when I went to the third movement I had the feeling that a knife stabbed me and without realizing I started to cry. My physiotherapist saw me tearing and asked what was going on, and I told her about the pain. In a matter of minutes, they dressed me up and sent me to the Ottawa Civic Emergency room...