The 14th & 15th; It seems I have a pulmonary embolism.

The 14th of November.  Our suspected pleurisy is not, in fact, pleurisy. It seems I have a pulmonary embolism. 

I was obviously still in pain this morning, and I barely slept. It felt easiest to stay in bed, while Mommy rang Nicola the clinical nurse specialist who spoke to Igor and he wanted to see me in clinic at one. Kate the district nurse came to flush my line, which worked fine, so the problem isn't in there. I stayed in bed, dozing in and out until half eleven, when Mommy helped me get dressed, then I was able to have lunch before we came to the QE. 

I had some obs and bloods done, and Igor chatted to some other doctors. He said it probably wasn't pleurisy, but could be the line again or a PE which was unlikely (so obviously that's what I have). He was also concerned by my resting heart rate of approximately 120, so he wanted me to have a CT scan then stay in overnight for observation. 

I couldn't have the type of CT they wanted to do because I'm allergic to the dye and the substitute wouldn't work for some reason, so nuclear medicine were very efficient at getting me in almost immediately for a different kind of CT which involved me inhaling some radioactive gas, them taking some pictures for twenty minutes (I had a little nap), then I had an injection and some more pictures for five minutes. Then a chest x-ray to make a fully comprehensive picture of my lungs. 

And diagnosis: pulmonary embolism. Treatment: clexane injections again. Still staying in for obs, but home tomorrow afternoon. 

Got to keep these doctors on their toes. 

The 15th of November. 

Back home! I had some lorazepam last night because I just wanted sleep, so I made sure I had the oxygen on and I slept beautifully. I'm not sure what time I properly woke up, but I felt alright. I had a bread roll and a satsuma for breakfast, plus an instant latte from a sachet. 

While I watched Saturday Kitchen, I wrote in my diary, then put those entries into the blog, which was relatively time-consuming. Dr. Tim came to see me at about half twelve and said I could go home! We weren't expecting to leave until four, so when Mommy arrived with lunch, we ate it and subsequently left! It's a good thing she hadnt brought me any extra stuff. 

So we packed up the room and got home just after three! I have been a busy bee since then, trying to sync Apple devices, do a little bit of crochet, make sure all the blog posts were completed, and tonight I just have to decide on my appearance tomorrow and I need to tidy up in the living room because it's a mess. 

All my chest pains and headaches are gone tonight. Drugs are magic.