So, about two and a half months ago I started to notice my right arm getting numb and kind of painful when I would vacuum or type for a while at work. I didn’t really think anything of it. I assumed it was just carpel tunnel or something similar. Then, it started getting progressively worse every day.
Fast forward to Saturday, June 21st, I was playing Fortnite and my right arm started hurting really bad. It was swollen, felt tight, and was red & warm. It was tingly, almost like the pins and needles feeling. I felt very nauseous and fatigued. I went and laid down in bed. I immediately knew what it was, but was SO hoping it wasn’t.
I did a bunch of research. I saw there was a chance it could be diabetes, based on some symptoms I’d had, so I ordered an A1C test from LabCorp. There was a LabCorp inside of Walgreens by my work, so I made an appointment and went there on my lunch break that Tuesday. I was so anxious to get my results. If it was diabetes, I could deal with it. Easily. Heck, I might even lose some weight with the meds. That’s the big fad nowadays anyway. Perfect. Turns out, my A1C is fine. So.. likely not diabetes.
I did some more research, which made me physically sick. I knew what it was. I texted my dad about it. He told me to get checked. I texted my mom about it. She told me the same. I decided to text my cousin because it was not getting any better. He’s an anesthesiologist at one of the best hospitals in Eastern Kentucky, and he always tells it how it is. I knew he’d be straight up with me. I told him what was going on, all of my symptoms, and also that my A1C test came back great. He told me I needed to go to the ER immediately. Right. That. Second. So I went.
They took my vitals, and immediately took me back. I didn’t even sit down in the waiting room. They put me in kind of a big, private room. Then.. all the tests started. They took some blood first, then sent me for an ultrasound. I was in there for what felt like forever. When I was back in my room, they came in and did a chest X-ray. Then more bloodwork. Then I went for a CT scan. Side note.. contrast is terrible. I legitimately thought I peed my pants right there on the table. They took a urine sample, too. They did an ECG when I got back to my room. After hours of waiting, I finally got all of my test results back. Everything was perfect. Middle of the line, perfect.. minus the dreaded blood clot. They found it during the ultrasound. But the crazy part is, it’s in my arm. Only 3:100,000 DVTs are found in the arm annually. One of my brachial veins won’t compress and there was no sign of blood flow. They have no explanation. I’m a very healthy person. My bloodwork was perfect. My urine was perfect. Heck, they flagged it because it was “too clear”. I haven’t fallen. I haven’t had an IV or surgery. No one is hitting me. There is literally no reason why this should’ve happened. They gave me a prescription of blood thinners and told me to follow up with my doctor. Except.. I don’t have one. Or insurance.
Since the diagnosis, I have done a ton of research. Too much probably. The fear of pulmonary embolism (PE) scares me every day. What if I move too fast or twist my arm wrong and it travels to my lungs? It would be game over.
The pain in my arm has been awful. It’s very painful in my elbow. The best way to describe it would be like the feeling when you hit your funny bone x10. It’s excruciating at times.. and my pain tolerance is pretty high. I was told my elbow pain is most likely due to the swelling and might have caused a “tennis elbow” type issue.
Fast forward to a little over a week later. I started having trouble breathing. It takes like 4-5 tries to take a deep breath. I know they say blood clots can travel to your lungs causing a pulmonary embolism, so I was a little concerned. I talked to my cousin, and he told me I needed to go get checked out.. again. So, I went.
At least I had insurance now. They, again, did almost every test they could: bloodwork, X-ray, CT, ECG, etc. My cousin warned me that they may do a blood gas. I was a little nervous. I overheard the nurses talking in the hallway about doing one, and I immediately panicked. I got extremely nauseous and wanted to run away. I even considered ripping my IV out and just leaving. When she came in, I asked her to put me to sleep before she did it. They kind of chuckled and said they were doing a VBG, not an ABG, and they were just going to use my current IV. Thank goodness!! All the test results came back perfect.. again. Still no answers. But at least the clot hadn’t traveled. Yet. They said the shortness of breath was most likely from stress and anxiety, which makes sense. My stress level in insane. I thought I was full of worry before.. this a whole different level. The fear of possibly dying every day gets to me at times, but I’m trying to stay positive.
I found a reputable doctor in the area and scheduled my follow-up. She went over my results and I asked about 587 questions. I did more bloodwork and did a pulmonary test. Both came back good. I thought for sure I failed the pulmonary test. I could barely get the water out of the firehose to put the fire out ((if you’ve ever done a pulmonary test, you know what I’m talking about)). They sent referrals to the hematology and the vascular centers. My hematology appointment is Thursday, August 14th. I still haven’t heard from vascular, but hoping to get at least some answers from hematology. They will be able to see if I have the genetic marker for blood clots and some other things. Hopefully I hear back from vascular soon. They’re the ones who can clear me to travel and whatnot. I’d like to go down to Kentucky and see my parents sometime soon.
I guess we will see. Here’s to hoping the next 7 days go by pretty fast, and nothing crazy happens in the meantime.
Have you ever had a serious health issue/scare? How did you feel? How did you cope?
Welcome to the Chaos.. 