I got home from Texas in the afternoon. As I listened to my VM getting off the plane there are 3 messages from the school nurse saying Robbie was very sick and in her office. That was 2 hours before. I was in Boston 1 hour away. I raced home but talked to Ryan on the way and he was already headed over to pick up the poor boy who'd just been sitting there for a few hours. Ryan had been in meetings all morning. When I got home Ryan and I kissed, gave each other a hug and he left for work and the fun began. Ryan and Aubrie were already sick. Now Robbie. That night I went to bed early and Ryan went straight from work to his basketball game. I didn't know it till the next morning but at his game he blew out his knee and couldn't get out of bed the next morning. He went to the doctor and ended up going to an orthopedic surgeon, getting crutches, having the flu and staying home the rest of the week. (after missing 2 days of work cause'I had been gone). Then Blake and Hallie got sick. Ryan literally could be in bed or sitting on a chair in the living room. He was so miserable because he was sick and completely immobile with his knee. I think from lack of sleep I got sick a few days later. Finally I took ALL the kids to the doctor, all had ear infections, got their antibiotic. Aubrie and RObbie finally went back to school and then a few days later I took myself to the doctor because I was having a hard time breathing. They told me I had pneumonia and gave me medicine and told me to rest. Right.
A few days later Ryan was in so much pain and really having a hard time breathing. He had horrible chills and then fever and back and forth all night. I tried to get close to him to help him relax and get warm but it was hard because of his knee. He finally went to sleep and we went to urgent care the next day after taking all the kids to Primary. They told him he had pnuemonia and gave him an antibiotic.
That afternoon he started struggling to breathe again. It was one of the scariest times of my life. I hated watching and hearing Ryan like that and I had no idea what to do or how to really help him. He got in a warm bath and I wrapped him up in warm wet towels to see if he could relax so he could breathe but nothing was helping. Finally I called our friend that is a chiropractor because Ryan didn't want to go to the ER and I was so afraid that he was going to stop breathing. Keith came over--he was SO nice--it was already 10:30 pm. He kind of checked him and after a little while told him he really should get to the ER because the pain was on the right side and it could be so many things over there. He finally convinced him to go and actually brought him there himself.
Here was the email that Ryan sent to our family later that explains from there:
I was in a ton of pain in the right mid-section of my ribcage all Saturday night and Sunday afternoon from what I thought was pneumonia and/or a pinched nerve. Breathing was extremely labored to the point that Amber and I were getting really scared. I called over my Bishop and his son to give me a blessing and they blessed me "that I would feel the Holy Ghost through all of the healing process for my leg and the pain I was experiencing in my chest" and that "the doctors would be guided to find the proper treatments for my needs". The pain continued to increase and we called a close friend in our ward who also happens to be a chiropractor to see if he knew any techniques to work out the pinched nerve. He came over and, after a few minutes, suggested that I needed to go to the ER. He drove me to the hospital and was a huge help, staying with me after 2:30 AM (he is a saint of a guy).
They took x-rays of me in the ER and confirmed that I had pneumonia in the lower corner of my lung. The diagnosis by the doctor was confident enough that he even started treating me for pneumonia with antibiotics through an IV and were about to dismiss me when the doctor came back in with this puzzled look and said, "You know, something is just bugging me a little and I just can't let it go - with your injured leg and the symptoms you are presenting, I think we need to do a CAT scan because I'm concerned that there is a slight chance you may have a blood clot." I initially refused, wanting to check with Amber regarding the costs, already being very frustrated at the increasing health bills I've been racking up lately. Before I could call Amber, I was being taken in for the CAT scan. About 30 minutes after, the doctor returned later with the results and said, "You have a pulmonary embolism (i.e. blood clot in your lung)." My initial response was a sting of fear and then quickly an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that this doctor stuck with his intuition just to rule out all possibilities - I couldn't help but give the doctor a fist pump and some props for being right and for catching what could have been life-threatening while getting treated for the wrong diagnosis (it turns out that blood clots in lungs can sometimes mask themselves as pneumonia on x-rays and you can't be sure w/out doing a CAT scan. Amber later told me that while I was at the ER, she had knelt down to pray and asked that "whatever is wrong with Ryan, please help the doctors to be able to get to the heart of the problem that is causing him so much pain." I couldn't help but feel that the priesthood blessing and Amber's prayer played a huge part in the doctor's actions that night.
I was immediately put on blood thinners and was admitted to the hospital. The pain was incessant but the but the pain killers have helped me relax. Funny story: the one dose of serious pain killer I received just before they took me out of the ER was called dilaudid. As the nurse was wheeling me up into the hospital, we entered elevators, went down halls, etc. and in my delirium I said to the nurse, "Have you ever seen the movieInception?" She laughed and with all the elevator door openings and hallways, it really did feel like I was going into various levels of my dreams but I couldn't tell which one I was in.
I was released from the hospital today and I am now at home - it is SOO good to be home! I am still in a lot of pain when any significant breath is needed, but the blood thinners should, over the next few days, help relieve the blood clot and the subsequent pain. I will be on blood thinners for the next six months. Additionally, I was able to see my orthopedic doctor and got some great news on my knee: no surgery will be needed! My bones coming into my knee were badly bruised and it will take about six months to fully recover. However, I should be able to start bearing weight on my knee in the next few weeks. The tear in my meniscus was fortunate. It tore in the center of the the meniscus and, somehow, did not tear out of the edges which would have required some surgery. Either way, with 6 months time and only some physical therapy I should be back to normal.
I want each of you to know how much your texts, calls, notes, fruit baskets and prayers have meant. We could feel of each of your love and support throughout the process.
PS - Here's the lesson from this whole experience...think twice about playing community basketball after the age of 34 and, if you do, be very deliberate in your running. If not, there's no telling the chain of events that could follow. I wish I could say that I've learned my lesson but I'm still hoping to play ball again next year...if Amber approves. :)
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| Liz was here the the week before Ryan ended up with a blood clot because she is leaving on a mission in a month and was visiting all the east coast families for a few days. She is SOOOOO amazing! One night we went over to do candle pin bowling. Unfortunately we didn't get to do too many things while she was here but it was so wonderful to hang out with JUST Liz. I especially enjoyed just talking to her. She was so great playing and having fun with the kids and I took a few naps while she was here :) Liz is awesome!!! |
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| Liz and Dave couldn't make it through our conversation. Dave and Karla came to stay the night before Liz left. We ate at the Puritan and just talked for a long time. That was the night that Ryan started getting worse too. |
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| Ryan has to give himself a daily shot until his Coumadin levels are where they need to be to avoid his blood clot moving or another one forming. |
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| Handsome man in the hospital. |
I just want to remember how much everyone helped us the last few weeks. Karla took Blake and Hallie on Sunday and had them till Wednesday night. Robbie and Aubrie would take the bus to the SPencers after school for a few days. People in our ward bought dinner for an entire week. Linda Rose called and asked if she could go to the grocery store to buy some essentials for us before the storm hit us, Karen is so wonderful and was willing to come here from TX and stayed for a whole week to kind of be the "mom" of the house. But that is another post all of its own. After the storm two families showed up at the same time with their snowblowers and cleared our driveway of the two (or more with snow drifts) feet of snow that fell during the storm. So many people called to take the kids too. I find it hard sometimes to accept help because it makes me feel guilty among other things. But I will say that we needed it. We really did it. There were a lot of hard days and I am SO thankful for wonderful people that surround us (literally and figuratively). I learned a lot the last few weeks.
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