Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Memorial Day Weekend Was Certainly Memorable

What a weekend!!  Mostly good with one big bad thing, so let's start with that.

All of last week, Phil complained of his right calf being sore.  He thought maybe he pulled a muscle while working out, but couldn't remember an actual occurrence.  He described it as achy and sore and the pain grew each day.  A few days into this, and because Phil never ever complains about anything, I googled his symptoms and told him that I thought he might have a blood clot.  He laughed it off, saying I always go to the worst possible scenario.  It's true, I do.


But then I took a photo of his legs to show him that one was definitely swollen:


 Phil made an appointment on Saturday to go to Urgent Care after much nagging gentle encouragement from me, and because he couldn't put weight on his right leg any more and was limping.  I called my brother who is an ER doctor and told him what was happening, and what I thought it could be.  He said that we should skip urgent care because they don't have ultrasounds, and that's what Phil would need in order to confirm or rule out clots.  I said to my brother, "But wouldn't it be weird if he had a blood clot considering his age and health and that he hasn't flown or had surgery or anything like that?"  My brother replied "Trust me, I've seen a lot weirder things."  So off to the hospital we went.

My visitor pass says Pauline Martin.  It happens often.

They had just redone and reopened this hospital and it was beautiful and clean and not busy, thank God.


And guess what the ultrasound revealed?

Multiple blood clots.

Yup, three blood clots in his right leg, all below the knee which is good.  They put Phil on Eliquis (a blood thinner) and sent us on our way.  He has a follow up today with his doctor.  Eamon brought him home a treat after work, because while ice cream doesn't cure blood clots, it certainly helps.


OK now for the good parts of the weekend.

On Sunday my side of the family had a Memorial Day/Graduation party for the three eldest grandkids.  

Only some of the kids

One graduate from grad school, and two college grads!

They're just here for the food.

We had Fr. Dave over on Sunday night, and sat on the porch and had a great time.  We watched this video together, which shocked us in a good way because we do need to think through and talk about this.  (warning: some language is crude)

 

On Monday, our town's Memorial Day parade went right down our street, and we had a few cousins sleep over the night before so it was a full house :)



Not much candy, so it was sort of a bust for the little guys, but they clapped their hearts out anyway.

A motorcycle died in front of our house, so the teenage boys helped push it down the street which was hilarious.


After the parade, I ran some errands with Maggie and Declan and then Phil and I went out to one of my favorite restaurants (outside! beachy vibe! live music!) because it was a gorgeous day and we were happy that he was alive!



I literally don't think I could survive without this guy, and I hope I never have to find out.  So yeah, I'll continue to google his future symptoms and jump to the worst possible conclusion because that's my love language.

15 comments:

  1. I am so glad that you trusted your instincts and your brother. (The Holy Spirit clearly wanted you to take care of Phil correctly me thinks.) Hopefully the blood thinners do their job. I love Eamon's ice cream message. So sweet.

    The rest of the weekend looks like it was a good one!

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    1. It's always that risk of looking stupid at the hospital that makes us drag out the visit for too long. Well that and the copay! So glad there was an answer and medication to take.

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  2. Blood clots omg!!! Scary! I am always on the lookout for that in myself as I have circulation issues and major varicose veins. Glad he's okay and good job on your nagging/ encouragement.
    Congrats to your grads!

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    1. It is scary and I hope you never have to go through it :)

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  3. So glad you reacted like you did and were proactive. You missed your calling Dr. Colleen/Pauline. It never hurts to be too careful. Celebrating your hubby being alive was the perfect end to the holiday weekend. :)

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    1. I definitely pretend to be a doctor in my spare time, ha!

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  4. How many jabs did he have?

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    1. We thought it might be covid vaccine related, but he had two doses of Moderna over a year ago.

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  5. Colleen! So glad you followed your head...and your heart! Prayers for you man! And by the way, when will you share your beauty secret??? You literally do not age!

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    1. Ummmm, my beauty secret is only posting photos that don't show my gray hairs and wrinkles! Ha! But thank you for your compliment and your prayers :)

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  6. Hey--anxiety and going straight to the worst case scenario, those are my superpowers, too. (But anxiety saves lives sometimes! 😊) Glad your guy is okay--that's pretty scary!!

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    1. Yes I'll be using this example for a long time for people to listen to my crazy!

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  7. So scary, and so thankful you did go to the hospital!

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