Checking In....

So much for the idea of posting more often :) I've actually been pretty busy despite being on a break from school right now! I have had tons and tons of babysitting jobs, which has been great!!!

I thought I would share this interesting little bit of info....I woke up last Wednesday with a swollen right foot. And when I say swollen, I mean major swollen. You couldn't even see my ankle bone, nor feel it. It was swollen on the top of my foot, and on the left side and underneath of the leg. I was like, what is the heck is going on. I didn't think much of it til later that afternoon, when my Dad urged me to call my TX coordinator. So I did that, and she told me to watch it and call her the next day. And to keep it elevated as much as possible. Usually the causes of swelling are: infection, injury, or blood clot. So the next day, it was a lot better when I woke up, but got worse gradually throughout the day (after I had already called my coordinator). I was already going to the doc Friday morning for some lab work, and she had told me to call her when I was done with an update on the foot. I told her how it had gotten worse the day before and it was a lot worse Friday morning. So we opted to do a xray and ultrasound. We really didn't think it was an infection, because the swelling site wasn't red, and my WBC count was normal. It wasn't injury...and she didn't think it was a blood clot, but wanted to make sure. So after waiting for about 4.5 hrs, I finally got the ultrasound and xray.

My coordinator called me several times Friday afternoon....first with a report that nothing was wrong, and they would just do lasix to try and remove the fluid. Then she called me back after my TX doc had reviewed the report and said I did have a blood clot. However, it was a superficical blood clot and not a deep thrombosis, which are the ones that can travel to your lung and heart and block off blood supply. Thank goodness. It was in my right calf vein, and the treatment is warm compresses and elevation, but to also not be immobile...to resume normal activity. Because immobility is usually a cause (although I definitely had not been immobile). So anyway..the swelling is almost completely gone as of today. Hopefully it has dissolved for the most part. Just thought I would share that with you. I haven't had any swelling since right after my transplant, due to fluid buildup/steroids. SO....be careful, and if you ever get swelling like that all of a sudden....get it checked out!

Will post again soon!! I am staying busy gearing up for our Great Strides Walk this Saturday.

I hope everyone is having a great week. Please keep my friend Tony in your prayers, as he is fighting for his life. He is a CFer and was transplanted last July. He has been fighting a bad infection/bacteria since November, and has just taken a turn for he worse.