Epstein-Barr, Fibromyalgia, Blood Clots, Bronchitis, and a Migraine

So, what do you think Epstein-Barr, Fibromyalgia, Blood Clots, Bronchitis, and a Migraine have in common? The answer is “things Christen had when she checked into the emergency room earlier today.”

I’ll admit that we’re a little jumpy right now as far as medical issues. Last time, Christen and I thought she was having normal pains attributed to Fibromyalgia and it turned out to be a Pulmonary Embolism (translation: it turned out to be deadly). This time she was hurting all over, and specifically she noted that her right leg was hurting (it was the left leg last time). Then she started having shortness of breath. This was all late Saturday. We weren’t sure what to do. Normally this wouldn’t be all that worrying (or even all that different from a normal week), but this time we had recently had a scare.

Sunday night she got a migraine (they’re more frequent because her body is re-adjusting to being off birth control), and this morning (Monday) it was still there. She was supposed to go it for a blood test, but instead called her doctor and listed her symptoms. He sent us back to the ER.

I’ll be honest, I was scared. Things moved pretty quickly again (the phrase “possible Pulmonary Embolism” really gets things moving). After checking all her vitals, getting a medical history, etc, they gave her some Percocet for her pain (her Migraine as well as the pain in her legs). Now you have to understand, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen Christen on Percocet, and she’s really entertaining when she’s on it. This time the nurse gave her a call button in case she needed anything, and she said “I can raunch lockets!” (and yes, the misspelling is because that’s how she said it).

They did some blood work that showed that her blood is still not as thin as they want (pt/inr came back at 1.8 and should be between 2 and 3), so they gave her another Lovenox injection. They did an ultrasound of her right leg, and found no clots at all! Then they did a CT scan, and not only did they find no new clots in her lungs, but the clots they already knew about are getting better (dissolving)! As it turns out, the shortness of breath was caused by Bronchitis, and the pain was probably Fibromyalgia pain (possibly made worse because her body was fighting the Bronchitis). They ended up prescribing Augmentin, an anti-biotic that can be taken while she’s on her blood thinners.

In the end, everything may not be “fine” but it’s way better than we were worried it was going to be, and we thank God for that.