So, I'll catch you up on everything that's happened in the short space of a week.
My leg swelled up as I was in a hair dressers getting my hair straightened earlier this week. I felt it before I saw it - a pressure that built up over the hours (it took FOUR HOURS to chemically straighten my hair!!! Can you believe it?) first in my ankle, then in my entire leg - as I was sat in the salon. My left ankle was throbbing and my leg felt...heavy...but I ignored it because I was excited about my hair.
Later that same afternoon and I glanced down and noticed my left leg was almost twice the size as my right leg.
This was not good.
I made an appointment to see a local Doctor and he took one look at me and said "get yourself straight to the emergency ward at hospital. Go"
I was so scared!!! Alun was at work and I was on my own.
What was going on in my body???
I booked myself an Uber (I'll blog about that later) to the Hospital Emergency Ward.
Since then, things have been happening quickly and I am not in control of any of it.
I went to hospital and staff took my bloods and sent me for scans.
The blood results came back that I had a clot in my body somewhere (how does that show up on blood tests?) and that blood flow wasn't as it should be. Scans showed that I had a clot in my lung. Doctor's also suspected one in my leg - which would explain why it was so big - because the clot would be blocking blood flow so blood was pooling in my leg instead of being pumped around my body. Alun was at work in the very same hospital I was in so when he finished his shift, he came and sat with me. For hours and hours.
Doctors were happy to put me on blood-thinning medication and send me home late that night, although at first, they wanted to keep me in hospital a few days/nights. They requested I come back the next morning for more tests and scans and so they could assess my leg and see if any of the swelling had gone down. Alun made me a big pillow tower to put my leg on through the night and when I returned to hospital the next morning, my left leg's swelling had gone down quite a lot. Phew.
I was booked in the next morning for an ultrasound on my leg - Doctors were sure there was a clot and they wanted to find and see how big it was. I wore shorts and a loose-fitting shirt to my appointment, figuring that would be fine as it was my leg she was scanning.
"So...just take off your shorts and hop up onto the table" the scanner smiled across at me.
Oh no. I wasn't expecting this. I was wearing ratty old underwear with a hole in it.
Argh.
I peeled off my shorts and got onto the table. I normally have to drink a pint of water before ultrasounds but I guess because this one was for my leg, I didn't have to do that.
The scanner lady put a warm gooey gel on the scanner and started by pressing it against the very top of my thigh - fairly close to my groin. Her eyebrows went up "What's that?" and she moved the scanner over to my lower abdomen instead of my leg - where I have felt a hard lump there for a few months now. It didn't cause me any pain so I've ignored it.
"Oh" she exclaimed, pressing the scanner hard into my lower stomach/groin area "Oh my gosh"
Uh oh.
"Um...what's going on?" I asked, I don't know why but I felt really teary all of a sudden.
"You have a really, really large fibroid in your uterus" she frowned as she continued to press on my stomach and traced around it, pressing hard into my lower stomach with her scanner.
My ultrasound took about 20 minutes - a lot longer than I expected. The scanner lady pressed again and again on my abdomen, pressing to 'take pictures' of the ultrasound - which took ages - and then moved onto leg, pressing hard as she moved from the very top of my thigh to the very bottom of my ankle.
"Ok. I'm done - thanks for hanging in there with me" she smiled. "I'll consult with a Doctor right now - and we'll see you about the results in a few minutes" she said, gesturing at a nearby chair "wait here"
So I sat, biting my lip in the waiting area, wondering what was going on.
The scanner lady came back and sat with me. (It worries me when staff sit at eye level with me. I always think it bodes bad news).
"You have a 12cm fibroid in your uterus, Janet. That's huge" she explained "your uterus is twice normal size and the fibroid is pressing down on your pelvis and on some veins and arteries. This is what's stopping proper blood flow in your leg. The fibroid is pressing on a main artery (she named it - the Ilia artery or something like that?) so we need to do something about it fairly quickly. This is serious"
Ok.
"The good news is, there isn't a clot in your leg - the swelling in your leg is all the result of that fibroid in your uterus. There is a definite clot in your lung, though - a pulmonary embolism (?) so Doctors are really worried about that and you have to take those blood thinners twice a day...ok?"
I nodded.
And my days since then have been filled with hospital visits, scans, Doctor visits, lots of medical questions and generally feeling like I've been punched in the back, stomach or pelvis as my body is throbbing with pain.
Every night I don't sleep as I am in pain all around my middle section. Every morning when I pee, I pee a lot of blood.
(Sorry, I know it's "TMI" but I want you to know everything).
Doing anything is exhausting. I'm tired all the time. Breathless all the time - probably due to the clot in my lung, making breathing hard. My heart is working really hard to pump blood around when the fibroid in my uterus is making it slow, so I'm weary. I'm sweaty and worn out - even just walking around the house.
I am really unwell, you guys.
So of course, I haven't been in work.
I messaged my boss when I first went to hospital: "I'm very unwell and have been in hospital with a serious illness. Apologies, but I won't be in this week"
And she messaged back soon afterwards "Okay thank you for letting me know"
AND THEN SHE FIRED ME.
Yep.
I work for an Agency but I am on a 12 month LEGAL contract with this mining company - wherein the 'agreement' is that for 12 months, I am guaranteed work with them.
So BEING SACKED when I have a genuine life-threatening illness has been a massive KICK IN THE TEETH for me. It was so unexpected. I don't think it's fair or right. I will look more into the legalities of this and FIGHT IT the minute I'm better.
I'm already down. I'm really, really unwell. Why am I having to be jobless as well, Father God?
I worry for Alun in all of this. I worry now that financial strain is on his shoulders alone when he's already stressed with work. I am mad at myself for not having saved up and now I have $500.00 in the whole world and yet weekly bills need paying.
Alun's parents are still here with us and I see God's hand upon this situation; because instead of giving me a hard time, Mrs T has actually been a blessing. She has insisted on coming to hospital appointments with me (bless) and has held my hand and listened with worry to all the news the Doctors and Consultants give me after each and every appointment. She's actually been very protective over me. Very caring.
I guess because it's physical and she's hearing from experts - Mrs T is cutting me a lot of slack so the very thing I feared - being jobless when Al's parents are here visiting - has happened and yet everything is ok.
Or is it?
The wary, scared, anxious part of me is sure the Thomas's are plotting my demise, I just don't know it. I'm ill, so my defences are down and maybe I'm getting jipped and I'm just not aware of it?
To suddenly lose a job when I am genuinely ill has me questioning everything, lately.
A huge 'side effect' of this massive fibroid in my uterus is that it's creating a sh*tload of hormones - which means I'm 100 times MORE emotional and bat-sh*t crazy than I normally would be.
So as well as having to pay for everything on his very own now - Alun has a PSYCHO for a wife.
I really, really worry about him. I can't imagine how hard this is for Alun.
I had an MRI yesterday which showed more of the damage the fibroid is causing and I have an appointment with a Surgeon on Monday so we can plan for surgery to get this bastard thing removed.
I'll write again soon xx
My leg swelled up as I was in a hair dressers getting my hair straightened earlier this week. I felt it before I saw it - a pressure that built up over the hours (it took FOUR HOURS to chemically straighten my hair!!! Can you believe it?) first in my ankle, then in my entire leg - as I was sat in the salon. My left ankle was throbbing and my leg felt...heavy...but I ignored it because I was excited about my hair.
Later that same afternoon and I glanced down and noticed my left leg was almost twice the size as my right leg.
This was not good.
I made an appointment to see a local Doctor and he took one look at me and said "get yourself straight to the emergency ward at hospital. Go"
I was so scared!!! Alun was at work and I was on my own.
What was going on in my body???
I booked myself an Uber (I'll blog about that later) to the Hospital Emergency Ward.
Since then, things have been happening quickly and I am not in control of any of it.
I went to hospital and staff took my bloods and sent me for scans.
The blood results came back that I had a clot in my body somewhere (how does that show up on blood tests?) and that blood flow wasn't as it should be. Scans showed that I had a clot in my lung. Doctor's also suspected one in my leg - which would explain why it was so big - because the clot would be blocking blood flow so blood was pooling in my leg instead of being pumped around my body. Alun was at work in the very same hospital I was in so when he finished his shift, he came and sat with me. For hours and hours.
Doctors were happy to put me on blood-thinning medication and send me home late that night, although at first, they wanted to keep me in hospital a few days/nights. They requested I come back the next morning for more tests and scans and so they could assess my leg and see if any of the swelling had gone down. Alun made me a big pillow tower to put my leg on through the night and when I returned to hospital the next morning, my left leg's swelling had gone down quite a lot. Phew.
I was booked in the next morning for an ultrasound on my leg - Doctors were sure there was a clot and they wanted to find and see how big it was. I wore shorts and a loose-fitting shirt to my appointment, figuring that would be fine as it was my leg she was scanning.
"So...just take off your shorts and hop up onto the table" the scanner smiled across at me.
Oh no. I wasn't expecting this. I was wearing ratty old underwear with a hole in it.
Argh.
I peeled off my shorts and got onto the table. I normally have to drink a pint of water before ultrasounds but I guess because this one was for my leg, I didn't have to do that.
The scanner lady put a warm gooey gel on the scanner and started by pressing it against the very top of my thigh - fairly close to my groin. Her eyebrows went up "What's that?" and she moved the scanner over to my lower abdomen instead of my leg - where I have felt a hard lump there for a few months now. It didn't cause me any pain so I've ignored it.
"Oh" she exclaimed, pressing the scanner hard into my lower stomach/groin area "Oh my gosh"
Uh oh.
"Um...what's going on?" I asked, I don't know why but I felt really teary all of a sudden.
"You have a really, really large fibroid in your uterus" she frowned as she continued to press on my stomach and traced around it, pressing hard into my lower stomach with her scanner.
My ultrasound took about 20 minutes - a lot longer than I expected. The scanner lady pressed again and again on my abdomen, pressing to 'take pictures' of the ultrasound - which took ages - and then moved onto leg, pressing hard as she moved from the very top of my thigh to the very bottom of my ankle.
"Ok. I'm done - thanks for hanging in there with me" she smiled. "I'll consult with a Doctor right now - and we'll see you about the results in a few minutes" she said, gesturing at a nearby chair "wait here"
So I sat, biting my lip in the waiting area, wondering what was going on.
The scanner lady came back and sat with me. (It worries me when staff sit at eye level with me. I always think it bodes bad news).
"You have a 12cm fibroid in your uterus, Janet. That's huge" she explained "your uterus is twice normal size and the fibroid is pressing down on your pelvis and on some veins and arteries. This is what's stopping proper blood flow in your leg. The fibroid is pressing on a main artery (she named it - the Ilia artery or something like that?) so we need to do something about it fairly quickly. This is serious"
Ok.
"The good news is, there isn't a clot in your leg - the swelling in your leg is all the result of that fibroid in your uterus. There is a definite clot in your lung, though - a pulmonary embolism (?) so Doctors are really worried about that and you have to take those blood thinners twice a day...ok?"
I nodded.
And my days since then have been filled with hospital visits, scans, Doctor visits, lots of medical questions and generally feeling like I've been punched in the back, stomach or pelvis as my body is throbbing with pain.
Every night I don't sleep as I am in pain all around my middle section. Every morning when I pee, I pee a lot of blood.
(Sorry, I know it's "TMI" but I want you to know everything).
Doing anything is exhausting. I'm tired all the time. Breathless all the time - probably due to the clot in my lung, making breathing hard. My heart is working really hard to pump blood around when the fibroid in my uterus is making it slow, so I'm weary. I'm sweaty and worn out - even just walking around the house.
I am really unwell, you guys.
So of course, I haven't been in work.
I messaged my boss when I first went to hospital: "I'm very unwell and have been in hospital with a serious illness. Apologies, but I won't be in this week"
And she messaged back soon afterwards "Okay thank you for letting me know"
AND THEN SHE FIRED ME.
Yep.
I work for an Agency but I am on a 12 month LEGAL contract with this mining company - wherein the 'agreement' is that for 12 months, I am guaranteed work with them.
So BEING SACKED when I have a genuine life-threatening illness has been a massive KICK IN THE TEETH for me. It was so unexpected. I don't think it's fair or right. I will look more into the legalities of this and FIGHT IT the minute I'm better.
I'm already down. I'm really, really unwell. Why am I having to be jobless as well, Father God?
I worry for Alun in all of this. I worry now that financial strain is on his shoulders alone when he's already stressed with work. I am mad at myself for not having saved up and now I have $500.00 in the whole world and yet weekly bills need paying.
Alun's parents are still here with us and I see God's hand upon this situation; because instead of giving me a hard time, Mrs T has actually been a blessing. She has insisted on coming to hospital appointments with me (bless) and has held my hand and listened with worry to all the news the Doctors and Consultants give me after each and every appointment. She's actually been very protective over me. Very caring.
I guess because it's physical and she's hearing from experts - Mrs T is cutting me a lot of slack so the very thing I feared - being jobless when Al's parents are here visiting - has happened and yet everything is ok.
Or is it?
The wary, scared, anxious part of me is sure the Thomas's are plotting my demise, I just don't know it. I'm ill, so my defences are down and maybe I'm getting jipped and I'm just not aware of it?
To suddenly lose a job when I am genuinely ill has me questioning everything, lately.
A huge 'side effect' of this massive fibroid in my uterus is that it's creating a sh*tload of hormones - which means I'm 100 times MORE emotional and bat-sh*t crazy than I normally would be.
So as well as having to pay for everything on his very own now - Alun has a PSYCHO for a wife.
I really, really worry about him. I can't imagine how hard this is for Alun.
I had an MRI yesterday which showed more of the damage the fibroid is causing and I have an appointment with a Surgeon on Monday so we can plan for surgery to get this bastard thing removed.
I'll write again soon xx
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