This year marks my 7 year DVT'iversary. In honor of that life-altering experience on November 8, 2017 I am asking for your donation for the 2024 Dallas Heart Walk in September.
In case you did not know, in 2017 I joined the survivors club by living through a life-threating incident of DVT or deep vein thrombosis . I was away from the American Heart Association recovering from spinal fusion surgery when it happened. The back surgery was on October 18, 2017 and from the time I woke up from the anesthetic, my left thigh and hip hurt. I mentioned it several times in the hospital and then later when I was released and returned for my follow up appointments. The surgeon’s office assured me all was fine, that it probably had to do with a change in how I was walking due to the fusion. I am an extremely active person – up at 6 am, cleaning the house, walking the dog and ready to go all day. This carried over into my recovery and for weeks, I was up and about so much that no one connected the leg pain to anything serious UNTIL November 8, when my left leg was so painful I could not walk and it swelled to twice its normal size. Thankfully, my teenage daughters were both home at this crucial point. With my oldest daughter driving, off we went to the local outpatient ER affiliated with the neurosurgeon and hospital where my back surgery was performed.
Within minutes of arriving, I was given a CT scan, provided heparin, dilaudid, and prepped for the first ambulance ride of my life to the larger hospital to begin urgent treatment for multiple blood clots. Later, I learned the catalyst for the clots was the back surgery but the cause was a rare congenital defect no one knew I had - May-Thurner Syndrome or Iliac Vein Compression Syndrome.
This started the most painful 48 hours I have ever experienced. I underwent two procedures on my leg - one to place a TPA drip and later a stent, spent more than 24 hours in ICU, and a total of five days in the hospital.
I am sharing this to remind everyone to listen to your body! So many times during the experience, I thought, “WOW! I KNEW there was a problem and I did not push the professionals responsible for my health and safety to track down the cause of the leg pain.” I felt so guilty and embarrassed at not being a stronger advocate for myself. I work for the American Heart Association, for heaven’s sake- I KNOW the signs and did not recognize what was happening.
