Tabitha

On Sunday October 19th, 2008 I woke up with a headache and this continued for the next few days and by Monday night I was throwing up and couldn't sleep because my head hurt so bad. Tuesday I got into see the Doctor and he thought it was a migraine and gave me migraine medicine, by this time I had taken so many Tylenol and Advil just to get the pain to stop. I finally went to work on Friday and by 4:00 pm I was rushed to the ER. I was white as a ghost and felt awful then my arm went numb; it traveled down my leg and up my neck. At the hospital they gave me lots of pain medicine and only did cat scans and blood tests and said they couldn’t see anything wrong so they sent me home that night. I felt pretty good because of all the pain medicine.

But by the next morning it had worn off. My head hurt with so much pressure I thought it was going to explode. I couldn't see straight and was so dizzy. By Saturday night I went back to the ER. I knew there was something wrong. They did more tests and still couldn't find anything. They said if I wanted I could go to University Hospital to get an MRI done or go home and see what happens. I went to University by ambulance. When I got there, I really thought I was going to die. I was so out of it. They gave me more medicine for migraines and it gave me tremors so they sedated me and all I remember is lying there not being able to move my body. By morning they did an MRI and found out I had a blood clot in the main vein on my brain and my brain was swollen that’s what all the pressure was. They saw this clot without any dye. So they put the dye in my veins and did another MRI to see how bad it was. They started me on heparin and coumadin as soon as they found out to break down the clot. And the numbness I had the first the night I went to the hospital - I was actually having a stroke. When they told me my heart dropped. I thought I was going to die. I'm too young for that. I am healthy, why me?? The doctors say if I had waited a day or two longer I would have died. They kept running tests to see how or why this all happened. The only thing they could tell at the time was because I was on birth control and one of the less likely severe side effects are blood clots. So I finally got to go home, they released me as having Sagittal Sinus Thrombosis.

Within a day later I had to go back to University hospital. I woke up in the middle of the night and my side was numb. I called my doctor and he told me to go to the ER and get an MRI. I did and apparently the clot had hemorrhaged and leaking on my brain. So back to the hospital I go. Apparently my blood was way too thin with all the pain medicine and blood thinners my liver couldn’t keep up with everything. My blood level (INR) was at a 7 and the highest it should be was between 2-3, that is 2 times the normal person. I got to go home a few days later and I had to see my regular doctor every 3 days to check my blood. They released me this time as having Venus Sinun Thrombosis with a hemmorage.

About a month later all my tests came back normal with the exception of one. It shows up that I have one gene of FVL. What? I had so many questions! What does this mean for me? What do I need to do now? How did I get this? I want to have children, can I now? Will I have to take medicine forever? I was in denial and thought the world was gonna come to an end. This gene combined with my birth control created this blood clot. I have been on birth control since I was 16, how crazy. But, I have done a lot of research. We have since discovered it came from my Mom she tested positive for FVL too. As for me, it has been a long road to recovery. I am not a 100% yet but I’m working on it. I still have dizzy spells and pressure in my ears sometimes and of course they tell me I will have to be on Coumadin forever. I am just thankful, thankful someone was looking out for me. I need to be here and I have so much life to live yet.

I have done a lot of research and I have to say thanks to your site I have had a lot of questions answered and have been so comforted by others stories. I know now, I am not alone.

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