I was Scared for My Life

0

Back in 2010 life was grand. I had just graduated and was working in my first teaching job as a 7th grade ELA teacher. I was having a blast with my coworkers and going to weekly Happy Hours each Friday. Most importantly, I was engaged and planning our wedding!

The wedding came and went way too fast. Afterwards, we had great week long stay in Fredricksburg, where we caught up on sleep, ate, and drank way too much. Ryan treated me to a massage at a local spa. And it was FREEZING outside, so we spent time around a fire and getting to enjoy one another’s company.

After our honeymoon it was back to real life. We shared bills, adjusted to full-time jobs, and had great times with friends on the weekends. We could not have been having more fun, but gosh I was just so tired!

167208_551760561011_6009239_n

I kept thinking the exhaustion was normal and the reason I couldn’t finish my typical 4-7 mile runs was because the weather was strange. I was always sick, because aren’t first year teachers always sick? I assumed all teachers are just this tired. It was the wedding planning, that’s what wore me out! Or were out too late the night before? Too much Netflix? The exhaustion was normal, right?

Then one Friday morning I woke up to go to the gym and had a horrible pain in my arm, from the top to the bottom. I thought I had just slept on it wrong. But again, I was feeling sick while trying to workout. I went to work as usual. Thankfully, it was a half day. My principal sent me home when the kids left. By then, my arm was red, looking like an allergic reaction. I took Benadryl and slept the weekend away.

The pain came and went. By Wednesday morning, I absolutely could not lift my arm. The pain was too much to handle. We decided I would go to an urgent care clinic.

As soon as the doctor walked in the door and looked at my arm he knew right away something was wrong with my blood. My veins were bulging all around my shoulder. He sent me straight to the radiologist to get a sonogram under my arm to see what was going on. Not even two hours later we found out I had a huge blood clot under my arm.

230482_571533191501_1334517_n

A blood clot? I am too young for this! I don’t smoke. I am healthy. This can’t be right! As these thoughts passed though my head, I was sent across the street and admitted to the hospital.

248605_572683640991_1577672_n
The weekend after I was released from the hospital

After five days in the hospital, SO many viles of blood taken, and $11,000 worth of blood tests we learned the blood clot came from my birth control.

It was so strange because I had an awful internal gut feeling every time I took that pill that I shouldn’t. But I kept it up. The crazy thing is that I had only begun birth control in November, and this was May. So in six short months it has done this to me.

226328_571532727431_787507_n

I am oddly thankful for the situation. It was one of the very first scares I have had in my life. It brought my husband and me even closer, as he had to spend the days and nights with me at the hospital as they pumped me full of blood thinners. I was also shown how great my family and friends are. I had with so many visits and gifts to keep me going.

CIMG5120
The Lovonox shots I received at the hospital and have to give myself every day throughout pregnancy

My health is no longer affected by this incident, minus the fact I had to give myself HORRIBLE blood thinning shots throughout my entire pregnancy and then six weeks afterwards to keep myself and the baby safe. But I have to say, I have definitely learned to listen to my body a little bit sooner.

I share my story so that you will listen to your body as well. Who knows what could have happened if I’d waited longer before going to the doctor.