TWO BLOOD TESTS WEDNESDAY INDICATED A BLOOD CLOT BUT THURSDAY MORNING’S CT SCAN SAID, ‘NO’

ON THE NEST

A couple weeks before leaving Congress Arizona a few weeks ago I had mentioned in a post that we were considering leaving for home earlier because of a medical concern. I didn't mention at the time what that concern was. Kelly began having random pains in her upper chest as far back as a couple months ago. They were particularly bad during the night at times & caused her to lose sleep. And then they would go away for awhile. Kelly didn't feel it was serious enough to seek medical attention until we got home.  She also didn’t want to put a claim in on our travel insurance for fear of her rates going up this Fall.  And with those thoughts in the back of my mind it was another reason we did not waste any time in getting back to Ontario.
 
SPOTTED A PAIR OF LARGE MUSKRAT'S ON THE POND THIS MORNING

With everything going on the past couple weeks Kelly put the problem on a back burner but in the last week when the chest pain came back & increased in intensity she finally called her Doctor a couple days ago & got herself an appointment Wednesday afternoon in Bayfield. With symptoms explained, the young lady Doctor immediately sent Kelly to the Emergency department at the Goderich Hospital for tests. She also told Kelly to stay by her cell phone for the test results because the Doctor felt it was potentially serious. 

A BLACK CAP CHICKADEE CONTEMPLATES HIS FEET THIS AFTERNOON
Just after supper Wednesday night Kelly's cell phone rang. It was her Doctor calling from her home. "Get yourself back to the Goderich Hospital" were her instructions. A D-DIMER blood test had pointed to a PULMONARY EMBOLISM (blood clot). Didn't take us long to get ourselves up to the Hospital where the same afternoon tests were again performed to confirm the first test's suspicions. And the second D-dimer test once again pointed to a Pulmonary Embolism. Kelly was given a HEPARIN injection in her stomach area to immediately begin thinning her blood. A CT scan with injected dyes was ordered for first thing Thursday morning to more accurately pinpoint the problem. We drove home from the hospital Wednesday night in a heavy rainstorm.
 

WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT EMERGE
The chest pain bothered her in the night again & this morning she was on her way back to the hospital for a 9 a.m. CT scan which turned out being delayed until 11 a.m. Luckily she took a book with her because she had to remain at the hospital until the results of that CT scan came back from London Ontario. Pheebs & I stayed home close to the phone in case anything changed. (we did sneak out for a 12” Cold Cut combo at Subway though)

Kelly phoned from the hospital about 1 o’clock saying the CT scan had not found anything indicating a blood clot.  That was good news because if it had, Kelly would have been in for more Heparin shots every 12 hours for the next couple days & then put on a nasty WARFARIN drug for the next 6 months with many trips to the Doctor & hospital to regulate it.  We are happy the CT scan did not find a blood clot but am now wondering what else it could be. The two D-dimer tests are considered false-positives.  Positive for a blood clot but the blood clot was not found by the CT scan.  The D-dimer tests pointed to a problem somewhere in Kelly’s body which could manifest itself as liver disease, a high rheumatoid factor, inflammation, malignancy, etc.  Kelly will now be doing a follow up with her Doctor to see what the next course of action will be.  She felt fine today but we’ll see how tonight goes………………………….

Both Kelly & I thank every one for their kind comments & concerns. Kelly has been fielding phone calls from friends & family for most of this afternoon.  One friend called to say he had a CT Scan a year ago at the same hospital & it was determined he had an appendix problem.  He was sent to the Stratford hospital to have the appendix dealt with but the problem was re-diagnosed in Stratford as a perforated bowel.  So, a second opinion or CT scan may be in order for Kelly……………...

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN TO BEGIN WHEELING OUT THE SUMMER LAWN ORNAMENTS

And on a much, much, lesser note………my Doctor’s appointment this afternoon resulted in two right hip X-rays.  An arthritic hip joint is suspected so we’ll see what the X-rays reveal.  Never had one stitch of pain in my right hip all day today & yet Wednesday it was about as bad as it has ever been.  No rhyme or reason to it.  I think medically, Kelly & I could well be considered, ‘The Odd Couple’.  

GROANER’S CORNER:((  When his eyes began to give him trouble, a man went to a ophthalmologist in Prague.  The doctor showed the patient the eye chart, displaying the letters CVKPNWXSCZ.  "Can you read that?" the doctor asked.
"Can I read it?" the Czech replied. "I dated his sister!"

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.