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The day that was yesterday

Wow. What a day yesterday was. Here’s what happened:

At around 4:45, my hand became numb and tingly. Because I’m a knowledgeable SLP, my first thought was “oh my gosh I’m having a stroke”. Although the numbness was my first (and only) symptom, it was so bizarre how my hand just all of a sudden lost feeling in it. About 5-7 minutes into the numbness sensation, it started traveling up my arm and reached about midway up my forearm. Due to my history of a PE and being on Amicar (a blood clotter) right now because of a lung bleed, pretty much the only option was to go to the ER. I called CF clinic, and they confirmed that I should head over there. The ER is the most disgusting place, especially in the middle of cold and flu season. They also apparently have never heard of CF protocol because I had to demand to be put back in a room immediately and for everyone who came in my room to be gowned, masked, and gloved. From the beginning to the end of the 5 hour ER stay, it was pretty disastrous. The ER is one of the least efficient places in the world. And I’m sure they hated me as a patient. Since it’s not my first rodeo in a hospital, I refused to let them do whatever they wanted at whatever pace they wanted. For instance, 4 different people tried to come into my room and start an IV on me, even though the doctor hadn’t ordered anything that would need an IV. When I questioned it, I got an incredibly rude and snarky response back. However, guess who left the ER without being stuck for an unnecessary IV? Oh yeah, that would be me. 

I had a head CT and MRI done, and there were no acute issues. However, I apparently have a tiny abnormality in my cerebellum that is evidence of a cerebellar stroke. I have zero symptoms of that, but it could have happened in childhood or when I had trouble coming out of a surgery. Regardless, it’s not recent event, and all seems fine.


We still don’t know what caused the random numbness, but for now, it appears ok. Having had a blood clot once is very hard mentally. Every single instance where my body doesn’t feel quite right, I worry that I’m forming another blood clot and that it’ll turn out much worse than the first one. I think this will get better with time—the less recent the blood clot, the less paranoid I will be. That is my hope, at least. I guess we will see. 

Comments

  1. TanviNovember 22, 2017 at 4:54 AM

    Hi Emily ,

    My name is Anuj Agarwal. I'm Founder of Feedspot.

    I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Blue-Eyed Breather has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 75 Cystic Fibrosis Blogs on the web.

    https://blog.feedspot.com/cystic_fibrosis_blogs/

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    Anuj

    ReplyDelete

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