I had been experiencing lower back pain for a few weeks. I visited my primary doctor and my gynecologist because I thought I was suffering from perimenopause. I started hormone replacement therapy.
I pushed for a follow-up with my primary for a CT scan. I had a pending trip to Liverpool to celebrate my husband’s 50th birthday. He is a huge Liverpool soccer fan, and we had tickets for the championship match on the day of his birthday. I had reached out for the results of my CT scan before I left the country, but my doctor, for whatever reason, didn’t have the results. I asked for pain medication to help with the lower back pain, and they never responded.
I left the country. I had a week in Liverpool, where every night I had extreme lower back pain. Our last night in Liverpool and the night before the championship match, I could not sleep, and the back pain escalated. When I went to the bathroom, there was blood. At that point, I knew something was seriously wrong.
At daylight, I woke up my husband, and we headed to the ER, where the pain quickly escalated and was indescribable. It felt like knives in my lower back and stomach. I was given a CT scan, and the doctors quickly let me know that I was in a critical situation with blood clots in the arteries of my colon, small intestine, and kidney.
The UK doctors called my doctor to get a copy of the CT scan earlier that week. They were shocked that the scan showed multiple clots. I was told I was in a dire state and my colon needed to wake up. After a week, it luckily did. I was in the hospital for a month in the UK.
I am currently on blood thinners and recovering. Recently, I learned that I tested positive for the JAK2V617F gene mutation, which can cause the body to make too many blood cells, which can increase the risk for both venous and arterial clots.
My advice is to trust your body and push your doctors for test results.
This picture is of my husband and me at Anfield Stadium, the day before the match we missed.
