Am I Getting Vaccinated?

Sweetie got his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination today. Hooray! He's so far okay. He said his arm just feels a bit heavy. To prepare for this day I had him check several things with his doctors. They have a family history of DVT and he had knee surgery two years ago. I'm glad his doctors checked if it was safe for him to get vaccinated. 

As for me, my doctors are still on the fence about me getting vaccinated. I had to pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in the lungs) and the cause is still unknown. They have been trying to figure it out since 2018 and we have no clear answers yet. I thought the tests I did in the past few weeks would solve the mystery, but not just yet. 

Since my anatomy is so different I've been reading a lot about how the vaccine affects people who have issues similar to me. Two issues I come across often is clotting and anaphylaxis. I have asthma and it's oftentimes triggered by allergies (bad AQI and some types of food). So it's just really complicated for me now. 

I've just been staying home. I only go out when I have an appointment with my doctor. I'm experiencing cabin fever already since I've had to stay home even before the stricter measures were rolled out. It's been a good thing because I've been able to avoid hotspots. So it's up in the air for me now until my doctors figure things out. 

If you have a loved one with medical issues, be sure to check first with their doctor if they should get the vaccination. 

CB///*Yr2/40  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/67 #StayHome #BeKind

Don't Want to Clot Again

To be honest I did not really want to write about my ordeal. It is something very personal and only my closest friends know I've been sickly. It was on Christmas day when I started having severe asthma. I prayed to Baby Jesus to let me know what path I should go on next. 

The asthma attacks went on and I saw my doctor on the 28th. By new year I was in bad shape and I was admitted on the day of my follow-up checkup. Things took a serious turn when my doctor sent me for more tests and determined I had multiple blood clots in my left lung.

I decided to write about my ordeal because pulmonary embolism is very hard to detect. I suffered from it for 7 months before it was found after I insisted on getting a second opinion. I don't fall under the profile of people who are prone to PEs so it never occurred to my long-time doctors that it would happen to me. We all thought I was just having severe asthma and my lungs were clear as of mid-December. No one in my family had this issue, it can happen to anyone.

You can learn more about what pulmonary embolism is by watching this short video (please watch, who knows you may save a life) --

https://youtu.be/8UnPPZlnfbk

I'm part of a group of PE survivors. We provide support to each other because there's so many things you will go through when you have a PE. Joining the group helped me understand better what I was going through and the adjustments I had to make to have a better quality of life. You need to have a very strong will to survive a PE. It helps to have a strong support system of family and friends too.

I went through an additional test to check my brain today. My doctor wanted to make sure the blobs in my head are stable and not bleeding. I was really scared, but thankful it was a group of Filipino radiologists who took care of me today (actually the other scans too). They helped me relax by playing 80s music (Eternal Flame, Stand by Me etc). The blobs are stable. Whew! We still need to make sure I don't bleed from the medication. 

As a patient it is important to keep yourself informed. I started watching videos last night about what kind of nutrition plan I should follow and whether I could exercise already. There are a lot of resources online to understand dos and donts. If you have a loved one who is in a similar situation, it's best for you to be well informed too.

My doctor said he is sending me home tomorrow. That means he is happy now. Still have a blood test tomorrow and I hope my ddimer will be lower. I'm still out of breath and will have to rest to recover fully. 

Don't take for granted breathlessness. Pulmonary embolism is a killer clot.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

CB///279 #StuckAtHomeDay/309 #StayHome #BeKind