When I last wrote it was the beginning of July 2010. It is now February 2011, and I thought I would give you all an update.

I found myself in the ER of the Georgetown Hospital, the night of Wednesday, July 27.

I had been having pain in my left shoulder since the Sunday before. I have a torn rotator cuff and had been in a pool with 4 kids under the age of 7 and figured I had hurt it throwing them around, helping them get out and catching them when they jumped in. Over the next few days, the pain got progressively worse and had moved down into my arm and my side. By the Wednesday I was in tears at my desk and after a TON of nagging from my boyfriend, I finally agreed to go to the hospital, telling him “there is nothing they can do other than give me a shot of Cortisone”. I sat in the waiting room from 7pm until 10:30pm before being seen. I had to stand the whole time, because sitting made the pain worse. I was in tears once again when they finally called my name; I went into a room and stood waiting...it felt like forever...but was actually only about 10 minutes until a doctor came in. She asked me what was wrong, I told her about my torn rotator cuff along with the pain being the worst it has ever been and going into my arm and sides. She sent me for an x-ray then had me come back for some blood work. I sat and waited for about 20 minutes, in the meantime they had given me some pain killers and I was able to finally get off my swollen feet and sit down. She came back in and told me my blood work wasn’t looking too good, they suspected I had blood clots. She had booked me for a CT scan the next morning in Milton hospital at 10AM. I was sent home with more pain meds and a nurse came in and gave me a big injection of blood thinners. Matt (my boyfriend) was told that if I were to have ANY troubles breathing to call 911 immediately. We got home around 12:30AM and both managed to fall asleep (me with the help of the pain meds).

We woke up in the morning and went straight to the Milton hospital (of course after calling both of our places of employment and explaining the situation). They brought me right in, put an IV in me and I went in for my first ever CT scan. They pumped a “dye” into me so they could see my blood stream. It took all of 2 minutes and I was out. She instructed me to go right back to the Georgetown hospital and go to the ER again for my results. I did as I was told of course, went back and waited to be called in again. Luckily, the doctor I had the night before was on duty and came out and got me. She told me I had what is called “Bilateral Pulmonary Embolisms”, which means I not only had one blood clot, I had 2. One in each of my lungs. They wanted to keep me in the hospital overnight just to be sure I was ok. Matt went home and got some things for me while I sat there and cried...all I could think of was my children and what would happen if something were to go wrong. They admitted me to a room while he was gone and gave me so many medications I couldn’t even tell you what all of them were. Matt stayed with me as long as he could and went home worried sick and probably got about as much sleep as I did that night.

"She told me I had what is called “Bilateral Pulmonary Embolisms”, which means I not only had one blood clot, I had 2."

I had to stay until 2pm the next day. They did more blood work, an ultrasound on my legs to make sure I didn’t have any blood clots there and more medications and needles full of blood thinners. My kids came to see me on their way to a camping trip with their Father, so that made my day of course. Just giving those hugs and kisses made me feel 10 times better.

I was sent home with a 6 month prescription of Warfarin (the blood thinner) ,a week’s worth of injections that I had to administer to myself, a requisition to get blood work done every 3 days and more pain medication. While on these medications however, I was not allowed to drink alcohol, do any physical activity (I had to give up my baseball) and I was not allowed to do ANYTHING that could put me in “Harm’s Way” even the smallest injury could cause me to bleed internally or externally and die.

It was nice to be able to get home, a friend of ours, Shannon met us at the pharmacy where I was getting everything filled and she brought me a “build a bear” that her and her sister had made for me that day. We headed home and when we got there, who was waiting in the drive way but Amanda Lynn and her fiancé at the time Craig. They had been in Toronto and just stopped on their way home to check in on me and give me a hug. Another girlfriend of mine, Terry came by for a visit after they left and stayed for dinner and a movie. It is times like these when REAL friends show their true colours and let me tell you, mine did and I will be forever thankful.

I went and saw my family doctor the next day who informed me that the reason all of this happened was because of the Birth Control pills I was on. Thank goodness it was nothing genetic and we knew it would never happen again or come back as long as I stayed off birth control pills. However, that being said, as well all know from my previous article, I was told not to have any more children. This meant I now had to think of other forms of birth control, I couldn’t get my tubes tied because you can’t have surgery when you’re on a blood thinner, I couldn’t afford the $500 for an IUD so the only other option was Depo Provera. Otherwise known as “The shot”. I had the shot administered to me on September 15^th 2010 and was told it will last 3 months then I have to come back for another. I had very harsh side effects from it including feeling as though I was pregnant, nausea, headaches, breast tenderness and mood swings. You can’t reverse the shot once it is administered, so I pretty much just had to deal with it. I decided to not get another one when the 3 months was up in December. I am now however having major issues with my menstrual cycle and not being regular. I have not had my period since December 10^th (5 days before the injection was to “expire” in my system). I get cramps on a regular basis; I am bloated all the time and feel like I’m pregnant again, though I know I am not. I am not a doctor, and have no affiliation with medical practices, but I would not recommend this shot to anyone!!!

On November 15, 2010 I went to McMaster Hospital in Hamilton to get testing done to see if the blood clots had diminished at all. I had an ultrasound, chest x-rays and radioactive pictures taken of my lungs. I waited about 20 minutes for the results and was told my lungs were clear of ANY blood clots and I could go off my medication and resume life as normal. I was so happy I just couldn’t help but smile. I had cheated death once again and taken care of myself well enough to get better in a matter of 4 months.

I am now back to myself again, able to run with my kids, play baseball, go tobogganing and enjoy all the finer things in life.

As I said before, it is times like these when your REAL friends and family show their true colours, and mine did just that. I had message after message pouring in on Facebook, calls coming in on my phone all the time and emails sent from co workers daily. Most of all, I had a true man stand by my side through it all and help me up when I was down. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have gone to the hospital and I hate to think of what could have happened.

Life is full of surprises and twists around every corner. Embrace them and make the best of them always. Forrest Gump was right “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get” But you can always bet that the aftertaste will always be sweet if chewed properly!!

Live your life to the fullest, Laugh as often as possible, Love unconditionally, and ALWAYS dance like no one’s watching!!!

Meaghan Terry

.. last article written by Meaghan