metropolitan


Friday, December 28, 2007

festive christmas blood clot

hi all,
this week has been full of adventure. on dec. 24th in the afternoon, i noticed a little redness around my picc line (right around the arm)... the home care nurse came over and told me to have it looked at right after Christmas. i was running a small fever, and so was hoping (and praying) for no infection.

i went to sleep on christmas day feeling mostly okay (still vomiting, but okay besides that) and then woke up on the morning of the 26th to a gigantically swollen arm with a picc line. we went in to see the doctor right away and they sent me to ultrasound and the lab to have some blood drawn.

the blood drawing was somewhat of a debacle, they poked me 4 different times and couldn't get blood from any of my veins. finally they poked the end of my finger and squeezed really hard until they got enough blood to run the test they needed. the ultrasound took a long time, because it was then they discovered a blood clot in my arm.

they determined that the blood clot was from the picc line, and promptly removed it. i have to take shots twice per day for 10 days in my abdomen to thin my blood so that the clot can be reabsorbed. i will go in on dec. 31 to have another picc line put in. Please pray that i don't get too dehydrated before the 31st.

i am seeing no improvement in the nausea, but my abdominal pain has been less overall the past couple of days. either that, or it pales in comparison to my arm that is swollen 2 inches larger than the other.... shoot.

i hope you all had wonderful christmas days with your family, and that you all have tons of fun at new years! hugs to you all!
brelin

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