Friday, March 7, 2008

E.R

Yesterday afternoon my right leg was hurting. It felt like someone had lit my upper thigh and lower calf on fire. I was concerned all night with it because it hurt and because it kept getting worse. I told Mike I was worried it might be a blood clot and with my history of leg problems, I didn't want to take chances. Apparently you can die from a blood clot. So....after LOST, we decided to head to the emergency room. We waited about 45 minutes to actually see someone and get a room, but once we were in there, it was actually pretty quick. They did some test where they drew blood and checked to see if it was a blood clot. About 30 minutes later, they come back and it's not a blood clot....they said it's sciatica and the pain is stemming from my back. So, I was told to call my physical therapist (since I've been having back pain since January) and also my primary care physician. I rested all day and my leg still feels like it's on fire...no fun! I called my therapist and doctor today and will see my physical therapist on Tues. and my doctor Tuesday morning. Then, my doctor called back and wants me to get an MRI of my spine on Monday. So..........I guess I'm back at square one with my back pain and trying to figure out what was the cause. It might be that it has not healed correctly since the 1st surgery 4 years ago or it might be something completely different. I was bummed that we weren't able to make it in to St. Louis for Heather and Ryan's game night, but sitting up hurts and my leg is still very painful, so we opted to just stay here. I am hoping that we'll have some good news and I won't need another surgery. Besides having pain, the other part of the bad news, is that they had to do a pregnancy test and it's negative for this month. :( so, we'll try again next month.....I hope your weekend is starting off better than mine!

3 comments:

Nicole said...

I'm sorry your week has been so crappy! Must be something about the first week in March.

I hope your leg is feeling better soon! You and I can be gimpy legs in Chicago together, as my right hip has been hurting lately. HAH! We can take turns pushing eachother in a wheelchair. (anyone have a wheelchair we can borrow??)

Sorry about the negative test. :( Hopefully third time's a charm!

heather said...

Hope you're feeling better today Kase! Sorry I didn't get a chance to call you back yesterday... we missed you!!
Give me a call today if you want to chat. I'd love to talk for a bit.

**Hugs and prayers!!

Swartzie said...

OK, so this is what you do. (I know best since I am a nurse and suffer from sciatica as well)

1)Take Aleve, 500mg every 12 hours for 2 weeks.
2)stretch your legs as best you can, no matter how much it hurts, you can still stretch it a little :)
3)take hot baths ans soak as long as you can handle it

The ALeve will decrease the inflammation and pain, the stretching will help with allignment, and the baths will be for prolonged comfort.

And try using a heating pad to the affected area, it helps.

I'm sorry you're going through this.

A few years ago, I had a really bad flare up, and my right leg was paralyed for over 24 hours!

I hope you get to feeling better soon!