My 14 Year Old Child Saved My Life
It was 9:30am on 9th December 2022.
I was sat on my bed.
I had been well the previous fortnight, though I did have a bad cough and a slight niggle in the back of my leg that I thought was a pulled muscle from wearing a set of healed shoes.
In Seconds, Everything Changed
I was just about to get up when the pain in my leg suddenly started really hurting.
Then, all of a sudden that pain had jumped to my groin.
A second later, I felt a pain in my heart and sharp pains going down my left arm. I couldn’t breathe. I felt really unwell. I got up and collapsed, falling in to a piece of bedroom furniture.
My Child Saved My Life
I was coming in and out of consciousness but it felt like my mind was going into survival mode, so I was able to instruct my 14 year-old child, who had ran in to the bedroom, to phone an ambulance.
There is no denying the fact that my 14 year old child saved my life.
Had I been alone in the house, I would not have reached a phone — and I would have been found dead later that evening when my youngest came home from school.
The Ambulance
The ambulance arrived within 12 minutes.
My oxygen stats were at 43%.
A quick-thinking paramedic said that he thought it was a Pulmonary Embolism.
There were no obvious visual signs of this being a DVT.
If it was not for that forward-thinking paramedic, I might have been dismissed as just being a bit concussed from falling into a piece of furniture.
The Diagnosis
I was rushed to the emergency room in 8 minutes.
A CT Scan immediately confirmed a massive Saddle Pulmonary Embolism with severely impaired systolic dysfunction and right ventricular dilation.
I was told that I was not going to survive without treatment — and that my major organs were showing signs of failure.
I was also told I was at a very high risk of having an immediate brain bleed or stroke if I did have the clot busting treatment.
I was given 15L of oxygen and thrombolysed with clot busting drugs, followed up with IV medication.
ICU — and the Road That Followed
I was kept in ICU for a week before being moved to another unit, and then eventually a respiratory ward.
There were many days where there was too high of a risk of the clot moving, that I was not allowed to move from my bed.
I’m grateful to the NHS for my superb care and for the quick thinking actions in those early few minutes.
No Answers
No birth control. No long distance travel. No history of blood clots. No previous hospitalization. No surgeries. No pregnancy.
The Hematology team have been unable to determine why I had such a sudden and catastrophic medical incident.
Life After
I have been left with an ongoing issue with my heart.
I struggle with walking gradients and stairs, and do get lightheaded easily.
I am on a high dose of blood thinners for life.
My daughters and sisters have been informed of their high risk of PE.
I continued on with studies during my illness and graduated.
What I’ve Learned
I have learned to live life — “Wear that dress!”
I have learned to value those who are important to me. I continued on with studies during my illness and graduated.
I have learned to value those who are important to me.
I have a renewed faith.
I have witnessed the NHS at its finest and I am eternally grateful to those who saved me.
It’s been a very long road to recovery and I am not sure I will ever fully recover.
I think I am at the “best” I will ever be.
What I Want Others to Know
Live your life.
Don’t dwell on your diagnosis nor the fact that you will be on blood thinners for life.
