I'm back (sort of)
 

This may be a little bit of a long post, so I apologize in advance.

I've been thru some crazy health lately! You all might remember my shoulder re-injury and my herniated disks problems... well, I have a new one. Isn't that grand?

Apparently I have had this problem for quite a few months... at least since February. I had my first "attack" in February. Woke up one night feeling like my chest had a elephant on it & my back had a few flaming arrows in it & my left arm was being chewed on by an alligator. This made me wake up the husband, who of course wanted to take me to the hospital immediatly, but stubborn-*** me, of course, said "No ... I think it'll pass..." .... and hey! whaddya know! about 20 minutes later, it did.

But it DID prompt me to go to the doc the next day. I still had pain in my back (mostly) so they saw me right away. This is what started my doctor voyage & finally ended up with my MRI and they found out about my herniated disks. So hey - we don't look any further when we think we've found the problem. Herniated disks can cause all sorts of nerve pain - that's why we thought that was "it".

But during the past few months I have experience "little episodes". Black outs, fainting, severe shortness of breath, pain in my back & chest, etc. But just a few times, just here & there, nothing all the time, ya know?

Back in July, I was walking from my work building to another building on campus that "healthy me" could have done no problem. But not even 15 seconds into the walk, I started gasping for air. I just thought - "Damn! it's hot! and I'm really fat & really outta shape & I can't wait to have the disk surgery so I can get better & get back to exercising & lose this weight & yaddayaddayadda." This shortness of breath - or rather GASPING FOR AIR thing has happened quite often. I just didn't relate the pain in the back & gasping for air. I thought it was two different things.

Fast forward to August 16 - a Thursday. I went to WalMart after work to pick up a prescription. They said it'd be about 20-30 minutes, so I decided to shop around while waiting. I got soooooo tired & out of breath... & then my chest started hurting. I sat down. Drank some water. Tried to breath normally.... couldn't. Finally got my script, then drove home, all the while my chest had that 20 bricks laying on it feeling & couldn't breathe properly.

When I got home, I called my husband. He came right home. That was about 6:30 and I fell asleep about an hour later. I slept til 5am Friday. I got up with the intention of going to work but I still felt bad. So I called my boss, and told him what was going on, & he told me to get my *** to the ER. His wife is a doctor & guess what field she's in? That's right... Pulmonary.

In the ER all damn day - of course at first, from my symptoms, they thought mild heart attack. Blood drawn showed high heart enzymes. So then they did the heart cath, and showed my heart was fine. Then they did CatScan of my chest & lungs.... oopsy! Blood clots. LOTS of them. (The heart cath showed that I also have an enlarged right ventricle.)

The doc said that 75% of people who have PEs find out when they're getting an autopsy. :fr: I was in the lucky 25% group who found out before. Of course we don't KNOW, but we suspect it was my birth control pills - as that is a risk of that medicine. For the legs & heart ultrasound, they didn't find any clots in either. So apparently they're just in my lungs, which is why I've had such a horribly difficult time of breathing lately.

I was in ICU for one night in the hospital, then in a regular room for 3 nights. I was at home 2 weeks before they released me to return to work. I'm doing OK now - I take Coumadin to thin my blood, & of course, no more b/c pills for me! I still get tired fairly easy, and I can actually FEEL the blood clots when they're breaking up & dispersing. The Coumadin doesn't make blood clots go away; it prevents others from forming. There's no medicine or surgery that can get rid of the ones I have; the body is responsible for cleaning itself out, so said the doc.

NOW THAT Y'ALL KNOW THE LOW DOWN... I still cannot exercise much. I've been swimming as much as possible, as it's one exercise that I can do that doesn't hurt me (herniated disks), but it's not enough to help me lose weight. I am now at 175, so I've gained since I left here. Part of that is the blood clot problem, because the meds I got in the hospital and the Coumadin has made me "kinda puffy". But still, I'm UNCOMFORTABLY overweight, and not way healthy - so my doc wants me to go on a low-glycemic diet. I went to E-diets & joined up. But I don't see how that diet can really help my high cholestorel and that is part of what my doc is trying to stabalize with me. I'm thinking of going back on South Beach (doc says that is fine if I decide to do it) now that fall is here & all the yummy fruits are out of season. ;)

At any rate - I have missed being here & posting & reading. (I hope some of y'all remember me, LOL!!!!)

Thank GOODNESS they finally figured it out! I'm glad you are doing better.

Hey BEACH PATROL! Sure we remember you! Just the other day I was thinking about you.

So sorry to hear about all the problems! That is really scary! I wish I could say that I would have gone to the hospital the FIRST time I had those symptoms, but I'm afraid I'm kinda like you--would rather wait and see if it goes away--not the best idea! :eek:

Good to have you back!

Jay

I DO remember you and I wondered where you disappeared! Welcome back - and sorry you've had so many issues lately :hug: It must be very hard not to exercise, and I'm sorry you feel so UNCOMFORTABLY overweight - hey, I understand *that* bit! :)

I'm glad to see you back again and posting. You were missed.

Wow. What an ordeal. How incredibly scary. Thank goodness it was "caught" before, well, before it was, G-d forbid too late. You are blessed that you are in the minority.

Although your exercise is limited, it is not a given that you can't lose weight. We hear of lots and lots of people who are able to lose with little activity. You will have to be vigilent with your diet of course, but it is doable. And hopefully, before you know it, you'll be feeling much better and back to an active exercise routine.

I wish you the best of luck.

Wow! That is so scary. Glad to see that you're back and that things are falling into place. I was actually wondering the other day what you were up to, and I'm sorry to hear it's been such a stressful & frightening time for you!! Take care of yourself, y'hear? :)

I remeber you! Sorry to hear that you have been through so much, but happy to see you still alive and kicking. None of the autopsy stuff, please! I hope you are soon fully recovered.

I too was wondering recently where you had been, I didn't see your posts any more. I'm glad this was caught in time and treated as needed! I hope you'll now get back to full health very soon, and that such a scary thing won't happen again.

Welcome back, Beachy!! :)

:hug: I am so glad they figured it out

Thanks for the "welcome back" everyone! I have got to find some motivation, & it's usually all over the place here!

I'm sure it's "doable" - losing weight with little to no activity... but I seriously wonder if it's doable FOR ME. Exercise has always been my thing. I have dieted here & there, different diets, etc... but it's always exercise that has melted my chubby away. It took me about a year to go from 178 to 158 - that's only 20 pounds... in 12 months? When I was exercising, I went from 175 to 138 in 7.5 months. See what I mean?

But I'm trying to think more positive about it, in that JUST FOR NOW, I'm not trying to be too concerned with my chubby-self. Trying to focus more on my health as far as the blood clots go, s-l-o-w-l-y build up endurance and try to keep my spirits up knowing that at some point, I WILL be able to exercise again. And as long as the weather holds out, I can still swim for a little while. Which, if nothing else, just makes me feel good for the moment!

Still, I'd really like to lose that 20 pounds (back down to 155) by diet alone. I'm just not looking forward to it~ ugh! :dizzy:

Beach Patrol...I am just so glad you are alright. The most important thing right now is to ease into any sort of excersize. You are sooo lucky that you finally got your booty to the hospital. Being healthy is important but you may have to go at it a little slower than you like. Listen to your doctors and take care of yourself. And definately keep coming back here for support and friendship. We missed you!!!

Welcome back, BeachPatrol!!! You WERE missed! So sorry you had such a rough time. I totally hear ya about exercise being your thing, I'm the same way. WAY easier for me to go work out than control what I scarf down.

But it can be done...you have the determination. :hug:

Beach Patrol - I am SO glad they caught the blood clots, PE can be so terrifying! Thank goodness you're getting it treated.

Boy, do I hear you on the exercise thing. The good thing? For me, at least, its not impossible...I have always been such a huge exerciser, and with my knee blown, I was out of commission for quite a while. I maintained and recently dropped out of my plateau, all without my regular cardio routine...sure, its slower, but it was possible for me and hope it will be for you too.

In any case, though, you're right to focus on yourself and get your body healed. Can't wait to see you around here again...we missed you!