Thursday, November 30
Spoonie Va-cay...(Part III)
[armpit lump]
Armpit Lump
Yesterday my upper arm was a little sore. It felt like a pulled muscle, but constant pain. It was so severe, I cuddled my arm against my body to keep it from moving. The pain started in my upper arm and then my armpit started throbbing, so I knew it was getting worse. I could no longer put my arms/elbows by my side because it felt like I had a ping pong ball in my armpit that prevented my range of motion (resting my arms down at my side, lifting my arm up in the air, well, basically, and moving of my arm). After my morning shower, I grimaced through the pain to lift my arms in the air. Low and behold the mirror confirmed what I had felt already. There was a HUGE lump in my armpit, which was extremely sore to touch.
I yelled for Adam, he looked at it and looked at me and calmly said, "Yup, that looks like a lump."
When the hospitalist made her rounds, she examined it. (Remember when I said how sore it was to touch?? EXTREMELY sore!!) Well, she missed the memo about how badly it hurt. Naturally she began pushing and poking as though she was giving my armpit CPR chest compressions!
She still "couldn't feel it". Adam got up and gently showed her the lump.
More and more armpit compressions continued and her final decision was, "It feels normal and doesn't feel puffy to me, I don't see a lump."
When my nurse stopped in, I asked her, "Do you feel the lump? Or am I cray-cray?!?"
The nurse agreed there was indeed a lump. She left the room and came back a little later to tell me that I had an ultrasound for my armpit lump later that morning. (So that makes me think that she talked to the hospitalist? But that is just speculation.)
Ultrasound pictures...
Can you see the blood clot?
Just nod your head and pretend you see the clot! Haha...
Dx: Blood Clot
The hospitalist came back later that afternoon to tell me that I had blood clots in two major vessels and she needed to start me on a heparin drip. In my double lumen PICC line, both lines were being used to its capacity. TPN was running in one line while the other lumen had potassium piggybacked to a bag back of fluids. A peripheral IV was ordered on my left side. After a few sticks ("few" used very liberally), the heparin drip was up and running. She also put in a consult for Hematology/Oncology)
New IV for heparin drip
That evening Dr. Kiss (Hematology/Oncology) stopped in with 5-6 interns. I felt all 14 eyes staring at me as the doctor proceeded feeling the armpit lump as I am wincing in excruciating pain. He was able to feel the lump, it confirmed the ultrasound diagnosis, and he could begin therapy to break up the clots.
I yelled for Adam, he looked at it and looked at me and calmly said, "Yup, that looks like a lump."
When the hospitalist made her rounds, she examined it. (Remember when I said how sore it was to touch?? EXTREMELY sore!!) Well, she missed the memo about how badly it hurt. Naturally she began pushing and poking as though she was giving my armpit CPR chest compressions!
She still "couldn't feel it". Adam got up and gently showed her the lump.
More and more armpit compressions continued and her final decision was, "It feels normal and doesn't feel puffy to me, I don't see a lump."
When my nurse stopped in, I asked her, "Do you feel the lump? Or am I cray-cray?!?"
The nurse agreed there was indeed a lump. She left the room and came back a little later to tell me that I had an ultrasound for my armpit lump later that morning. (So that makes me think that she talked to the hospitalist? But that is just speculation.)
Ultrasound pictures...
Can you see the blood clot?
Just nod your head and pretend you see the clot! Haha...
Dx: Blood Clot
New IV for heparin drip
That evening Dr. Kiss (Hematology/Oncology) stopped in with 5-6 interns. I felt all 14 eyes staring at me as the doctor proceeded feeling the armpit lump as I am wincing in excruciating pain. He was able to feel the lump, it confirmed the ultrasound diagnosis, and he could begin therapy to break up the clots.
*When you picture a blood clot, don't you picture just a small mustard seed or a pea? That's what we were picturing. Dr. Kiss said it was a HUGE clot...and boy he wasn't exaggerating in the least!! The Duplex/Doppler showed the clot starting at the insertion of the PICC Line in my inner bicep of my right upper arm; continuing up my arm, in my armpit, from my armpit up to my clavicle (collar bone) and stopping before the PICC descends down to my heart. These two little boogers are just massively long!!! (Did not know that clots could be that long.)
Dr. Kiss stopped my Heparin (continuous IV) and started me on Lovanox (subQ injection 2x/day). He asked me when my surgery was scheduled. I told him it was in two days. He walked up to the side of my bed and looked right into my eyes and said, "You will not be able to have this surgery." My heart sank and tears began to weld up in my eyes. I had been waiting for months to either have this surgery or to get some answers. I began sobbing uncontrollably, this meant more waiting. I must have looked pretty pathetic, cause one of the students found me a box of Kleenex to "clean myself up". The hematology/oncology team left, and I was able to just cry for a few minutes. Adam had just left and it was just me by my lonesome. I broke down and cried in frustration...Why was this happening? What is God trying to teach me? How can this possibly be God's plan? I'm so sick of being sick!! I am learning now, this is going to be a long lesson.
Can you see the lump?
Picture #1? or Picture #2?
Do you see a lump? If so, which one is it? Am I cray-cray?
If you picked the first picture....your eyes are better than my doctor's eyes!!
Thanks again to everyone for all the prayers, love, and support. Just trying to take everything one step at a time.
No comments:
Post a Comment