Argh...

Well, I went to the doctor on January 8th to discuss my options. We made a plan to do another Venogram and remove the IVC Filter immediately if the blood clot was gone, which the doctor was convinced it would be.

I went to the hospital last Thursday (the 17th) afternoon ready to be finally finished with all of this business. The thought of the clot still being there and not being able to remove the filter absolutely never crossed my mind.

They rolled me into the operating room and got everything ready...cleaned and sterilized my neck area and my leg. I was laying there under all the surgical drapes for an awkward amount of time while we waited for some last minute blood work to come back. When it finally came back they got busy! I'm convinced they were so eager that they didn't give the Lidocaine enough time to take effect before they cut my leg open!!

Within just a few minutes they were taking the first pictures and then they were done. The clot was still there...this time bigger and more solid than it looked last time. It was also no longer attached to the filter. The filter is actually completely clear!! So apparently my blood clots are super clots that are not deterred by a titanium claw!!

Another interesting thing...my filter has tilted and is now sticking out of the vein!! Awesome!! Here's my attempt at a picture....

Just another exciting day in the life of me!! It looks like we'll be doing that experimental procedure after all sometime in the next few weeks! My friends and family say I keep downplaying the seriousness of this, but I'm choosing to take every moment as it comes and live every day to its fullest. I try not to take anything or myself too seriously. I know that God is in control and every tomorrow is a gift. In the end, my hope is in Him and if I meet Him sooner rather than later, that really is OK!! Blood clot or not, that's a good way to live!

So close, yet still so far away

Well, I believe when I left off we were just days away from having a brand new procedure performed that would rid me of both my blood clots and my filter.  It is kind of twisted I guess, but I was pumped! I was so ready to be done with all of this and try to get some sense of normalcy back in my life.

So, the doctor called on Monday of the week after Thanksgiving and said the surgery was scheduled for Thursday morning at 8.  I needed to be admitted to the hospital the day before and would probably have to stay in the hospital through Friday.  I was going to be missing three days of school but it was worth it to finally be done with all of this.  That Tuesday night I stayed at school way too late trying to get everything organized so I could have a sub for the next three days.  Having a sub in middle school is ten times easier than elementary school, but it's still work.

Late Tuesday afternoon the doctor called and told me he wanted me to go to Harris at 7am to have a venogram so he could get a good look at the clot before they did the surgery.  After that we would head over to Plaza and be admitted.  My Mom and I got up early and took care of the venogram and then headed over to the other hospital.  Through several strange and disconcerting moments we soon realized that things weren't going as planned.  And really, why would they??  Absolutely nothing has really gone as planned in this whole process.

Anyway, the doctor eventually let us know that I didn't need to be admitted a day early and I needed to come back the next morning at 6am.  I was home from that little adventure at about 8:45.  I totally could have gone to work!!  Argh!  About 4 o'clock that afternoon the doctor called and said that the venogram showed that the clot was less than half the size it was.  Apparently my body was dissolving it on it's own.  He also felt like we could wait about a month and check on the clot again.  Hopefully it would all be gone and then we could remove the filter and be done with all of this.  He didn't feel like the surgery would be in my best interest at this time.

While I was thankful to not have to have a potentially risky procedure, and even more thankful that the clot seemed to be taking care of itself, I was bummed.  Waiting another month meant three very important things.  One, I was going to have to keep giving myself Lovenox injections twice a day for 30 days (again, I hate them).  Two, my next venogram and possible filter removal wouldn't be until January...just in time for all of my deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums to start over.  These procedures that wouldn't have cost anything will now likely cost thousands of dollars.  Swell!  Thirdly, this whole ordeal is not over yet!  And that is where we stand today!

So close, yet still so far away!!

The end...we thought.

I had my IVC Filter placed on September 14th, and I had to wear the pink cast for one more week after that.  I don't think I've ever looked forward to anything like I did getting that cast off.  It was probably the most unpleasant experience of my life!

Anyway, I went from the cast to a walking boot for two weeks (which included a trip to Disney World - more on that later).  After two weeks of that, I was set free!  I was getting around pretty well but didn't quite trust myself.  I would find myself trying to walk without bending my ankle, so afraid that I would do something to it and damage it again.  In reality, my ankle is probably stronger now that than it's ever been...amazing what a little hardware will do.

Since I was back on my feet and moving around quite a bit, and enough time had passed that it was likely the blood clot in my leg had time to dissolve we went ahead and scheduled the IVC Filter removal.  I had planned to have it done while I was out of school for Thanksgiving Break.  I was strangely excited to have it removed because it would mark the end of a crazy 6 months and hopefully end the even crazier medical bills!

So, the morning of November 20th, I went in to have my filter removed.  I was a little more nervous this time because they were going to have to go in through my neck, through my heart and then down to grab hold of the filter and pull it back out.  C-razy!  Just didn't seem right.  I was relieved when they put a little something in my IV and I passed out.  I woke up thinking it was all over.  I was wrong.  I was still laying on the table in Interventional Radiology when I woke up.  The super nice nurse, who had been with me during the filter placement, had a pretty concerned look on her face.  They had also turned off the fun music I had fallen asleep to.  When I asked if they got it out, she told me they had to stop the procedure.

What now???  They showed me on the gigantic screen that the IVC filter had done it's job and "caught" several pieces of blood clot.  Unfortunately, there was a also a large piece of clot above the filter.  As in, I was at serious risk of pulmonary embolism again and I didn't even know it.  They admitted me to the hospital right away and it looked like I was going to be having hospital turkey for Thanksgiving.  By Tuesday night they had 3 different doctors on the case as well as my doctor in Dallas.  They decided since the clot posed the biggest threat at the moment I needed to go ahead and begin Lovenox injections again.  Yay!!  There was some talk about placing a second filter above the first one but nobody seemed too confident that was the best option.  Since it was the Holiday it didn't look like anything was going to happen that week so the doctors released me to go home on Wednesday, as long as I did the injections and promised to follow up with the surgeon.  I was so, so, so thankful to get to spend Thanksgiving at home with my family.  We had a great day, including an epic Nerf gun fight...Mom, I still don't know how that dart ended up in the mashed potatoes! ;)

We got an appointment with the surgeon this past Tuesday morning and he felt like our best option was a brand new procedure that had been developed at Harvard and only done one time in Fort Worth. He went on to say that this was originally designed to be done on clots in the lung, but he did it on a heart, and feels pretty confident it will work for me.  So, he's going to perform a procedure on me that's really never been done before.  Awesome!  I can't wait!

He called me yesterday morning (Saturday) to let me know that the surgery would be performed at Plaza Hospital instead of Harris because there would be too much red tape there, being a brand-new procedure and all.  Awesome!  He's supposed to call tomorrow to finalize the details!

So, hopefully, sometime this week it really will be the end of this crazy story!

Just when we thought the drama was over...

School started the week after I had surgery on my ankle.  I was loving my new job at the middle school but it was all I could do to make it through the day.  When I came home from school at about 4 I went straight to bed.  And I stayed there all night.  Time went quickly though and before I knew it, it was time to get the bandages off and get a real cast.

Here's the incision with lots of stitches...

Here's the bright pink cast I chose...

And, as you can see, my good friend, Meagan was in town so she helped me paint my toenails.  She enjoyed me being captive a little too much!

Things rocked along quite well for about a week.  One day, my leg felt funny all day.  It was really swollen in the cast, which you can imagine is quite uncomfortable, and the back of my calf was hurting.  I really didn't think much of it, just that I should probably drink more water and keep my foot elevated more.  I was at my parent's house for dinner and I mentioned the odd feeling in my leg to my Mom (a nurse) and she immediately said we were going to the emergency room.  Um, no thanks Mom.  I didn't have time or energy for the emergency room!  She insisted though, because she suspected that there might be a blood clot in my leg. And she was right.  Every time I think of having a blood clot I think of this scene in Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory...



So, on top of everything else I've dealt with, I now had a blood clot measuring from the middle of my calf to the middle of my thigh.  Apparently this is quite a dangerous condition.  They wanted to admit me to the hospital that night but I fought it because I hadn't had a chance to prepare a SUB folder yet!  It would make me look really bad if I had to call in sick unexpectedly and didn't have a plan!  I talked the doctor into letting me go home as long as I promised to take it easy.  I went to work the next day.

They also wanted to put me on the normal course of treatment for a blood clot, blood thinners and anti-coagulants.  They gave me a prescription for Lovenox injections.  Yay!!  They hurt, a lot.  I was also instructed to consult my hemangioma doctor to make sure there wouldn't be any added risk for that hemorrhaging again.  We called Dr. Gilbert in Dallas the next day and he didn't think that blood thinners would be a good idea and suggested that I have an IVC Filter placed.  This didn't turn out to be that big of a procedure but I found it very interesting.  I was awake the whole time and watched on the screen as they placed the filter.  The doctors were optimistic that the filter would only be needed temporarily and we could have it removed in about 60 days.  So, as far as we knew, things were looking up!

Once again, I wish that was the end, but, it's not!!

Time Out

I was thinking today.

That's kind of funny if you know me at all, because, I think a lot! Probably too much.  Anyway, I was thinking about the doctor's appointment I just came from and the many I've been to since this crazy story began back in May.  And, the more I think about all that has happened since that first day when I fell out of the shower, the harder it is to tell my story or to even get out of bed in the morning without acknowledging the overwhelming provision and protection of my sovereign God. So, I want to take a time out from the crazy/silly/bloody details of the last 6 months and remind myself, and anybody reading, of the most important details of all.

We could start with the fact that the morning I fell out of the shower I was at my parent's house instead of living alone...On a morning when my sister was running late, allowing her to find me...On a rare day off for my Mom.  Or, the fact that when I fell down the stairs I was with a good friend who could help me.  Or, maybe that when my leg felt funny one day and I probably would have taken an extra pain pill and gone to bed my Mom knew something serious was going on.  Or when it was time to get my IVC filter removed (I'll tell that story soon) and no doctor really knew why we were taking it out, we discovered a new major problem (I'll tell that story soon too).  Or, when I was wandering around the woods with some friends, things could have gone very wrong but they didn't.  Any detail of the last six months points to one thing...God's been there the whole time.

I find it quite interesting that while my physical body seems to be revolting from normalcy my heart and my mind have had a revolution of their own.  I have fallen in love with the gospel in a whole new way.  Sure I've believed the gospel most of my life.  I've believed in God and believed that He sent Jesus to reconcile us to Himself.  I believed that my belief in those things would allow me to spend eternity in Heaven one day.  And, I still do.  But, it's so much more than that.

The gospel is about everyday, every moment recognizing my need for mercy and grace that I don't deserve.  Every day.  Every moment.  It's about recognizing that I will never be good enough to earn God's favor but knowing that I already have it because of what Jesus did on the cross.  The gospel saves me but it also changes me.  The gospel increases my joy and transforms the way I see the world around me.  The gospel frees me.  The gospel is present-tense.  The Village Church puts it this way, "we never graduate or outgrow the gospel."

I heard this song for the first time at church a few weeks back and have been listening non-stop ever since, it pretty much sums it all up...



I'm so thankful for the gospel.  I'm so thankful that while my body has needed work my heart did too.  I'm thankful that everything I've encountered on this crazy journey has been a part of the plan and has been a constant demonstration of grace.  God's been there, He's protected, and He's provided the whole time.  And He will never leave me.

8 screws later...

Less than a week before school started I had surgery on my ankle.  One metal plate and 8 screws later my leg had been put back together again.

I've never broken any bones before and I seriously underestimated what kind of inconvenience it is!  Everything was hard.  And I didn't really have time to sit around and just prop my foot up.  School was starting and I needed to be at work!

I was also really bad at crutches.  I'm pretty confident that if I had to use crutches I would have broken something else and I probably would have done lots of damage to the property of others. So, I spent 4 weeks of my life riding round on a little scooter! That scooter made my life so much easier!

Once again, thanks to my Mom, my Dad, my sister, and my friend Kristy for driving me around and loading and unloading my scooter during those 4 weeks! I know it wasn't fun!!

Here's an x-ray of the new and improved ankle...

Once again, I wish that was the end of this crazy medical tale!

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall...

And in this little story, I'm Humpty Dumpty!!

After a summer filled with hospital stays, surgery, and doctor's appointments I was thrilled that school was finally starting back.  I was a little nervous to be teaching a brand new grade at a brand new school but so glad to be healthy and back in action.

One afternoon about a little over a week before school started, I was headed to lunch with my good friends Deneise and Payton.  We were walking down some stairs and I was answering a text at the same time.  That was dumb.  As I neared the second to last step before the landing I totally over-stepped and fell down the last two stairs.  I heard a pop.  And I felt pain.  Lots of pain.  Luckily, my phone was totally ok.  I was not!  I was a bit disoriented, quite a bit pale, and certain that I just broke not one but both of my ankles.  Deneise was pretty much in shock of what just happened but kept her cool and I was so incredibly thankful for her help over the next several hours.

The first problem, I still had about 10 stairs to go before I made it to the bottom floor.  The second problem, I could not walk and I could not hop.  I slid down the rest of the steps and rolled out to the car in a chair.  We went straight to CareNow where we learned a broken bone was apparently not an emergency.  We were given a 2 hour wait time so we went ahead and went to In-n-Out for lunch!  By that time, my left ankle was feeling much better and I was ready to amputate the right one!

After waiting some more (remember this is a new game for me) I finally got called back.  A quick x-ray confirmed that my right fibula was fractured just above the ankle joint.  I left CareNow with a walking boot and instructions to see a specialist.  My Mom's connections got me in the next morning with an Orthopedic Surgeon who we were hoping would look at the x-rays, put me in a cast, and then send me on my way.  But he tricked me.  After looking at my x-ray he came in and asked me how active I was.  I may have exaggerated my activity level because I told him I liked to run.  Haha.  He immediately suggested that if I wanted to continue to be a runner (haha) I should probably have surgery to repair the bone properly.

Noooooooooooooo.  I didn't have time for surgery.  It was time to be back at work, and I was at a new school, in a new grade, with a new principal!  I so did not want to be THAT teacher that is already asking for time off.  But I had to.  Did I mention that I broke my right ankle?  As in the foot you use to drive a car?  So, not only was I unable to drive a car, I was also unable to finish getting my classroom ready.  Luckily, my friend, Kristy and my sister came to my rescue.  They drove me places, they shopped for me, they definitely came through in a big way.

After a summer of medical drama I broke my ankle, and broke it bad enough I had to have surgery.  And I wish that was the end of the story!