hospital

Wow.....a strange thing happen to me a few weeks ago.  I had some lower back pain for about a week..nothing bad...just sore back then Saturday morning the 9th, my left leg started to swell and got really tight....after a few hours we finally decided to go to the ER.  They suspected a blood clot in my leg so they did an ultrasound of my leg but found nothing.  The doc gave me a shot of lovenox and a coumadin pill and told me to come back in 24hrs for a re-check.   I stayed off my feet the rest of the night and all day Sunday till we headed back to the ER around 4pm.  By this time my leg looked better but still noticeably swollen and darker in color. They re-did the ultrasound and still couldn't find a clot in my leg.  The ER doc was going to send me home taking a strong aspirin everyday but I knew something wasn't right.  We told the doc again that my lower back (left side) had been aching all week.  He left and made a call to the specialist at interventional radiology.  They suggested I get a CT scan of my abdomen area.  So I did the scan.  The ER doc came back and I knew by the look on his face it wasn't good.   He said..well...you DO have a blood clot.  It is 22 cm long in the iliac vein in the abdomen.  They immediately took me back for a procedure where they put a screen in the vein through the back of my leg.  The screen sprays out medicine to dissolve the clot.  Also they placed an IVC filter at the top of the clot just below the vena cave to prevent any clots from breaking away and going to my lungs or heart.  I have never been attached to so many IVs and monitors in my life! By this time it was after midnight... It was a really long scary night in the hospital and lots more nights to come.  Monday the docs checked the clot but it still needed more time to dissolve.  In the mean time, I had to lay flat in bed, not bending my left leg and not getting up out of bed.  It was horrible. Tuesday the doc took me back to check the clot and it was nearly dissolved.  The doc put 2 stents in my vein to keep it open. ( Apparently I have a condition called MayThurner's syndrome where the arteries cross over the iliac veins in the left side of abdomen squishing them)   So after that procedure they took the IV out of the back of my leg and I could finally bend my knee and get up....well...I couldn't for a while because I got so light headed and was low on blood.  Wednesday my blood was low so the resident doc decided I needed a blood transfusion!  So I sat in  bed and got a unit of blood.  I felt much better later that afternoon and was able to get up and walk around the room a bit.  Thursday I was finally able to come home!  It was what seemed to be forever in the hospital.  I missed my family so much!  It was awful!  I have had many follow up visits many lovenox shots, and now taking coumadin (blood thinning medication). Hopefully this will prevent any more clots!!  FYI...don't take Estrogen unless you have too!
Thanks so much for all the prayers and thoughts for me and my family.  Thanks to MARK my husband for being there for me the whole time.  He is amazing!