Sonya's Blog - Day 130 - The Day Before Halloween

Sonya’s Blog - Day 130 - October 30th - The Day Before Halloween

So I am having some problems with pain in my right calf. It is a throbbing pain and I have had it since the day we drove to Pittsburgh. I have been stretching, but it is doing no good. After doing some research on the web, it sounds like it would be prudent to have it checked to make sure it is not a blood clot. I would like to wait a few days to see if it clears up, but Blake is a little freaked out by what he read so he would like me to go right away. Blake called our insurance provider to see what we need to do to see a doctor in the States. He got a case number for me and Suzanne made me a Doctor’s appointment for this afternoon.

We rushed off to try and see Claire’s Halloween Parade at her school. They were parading around a park near her school, but we only got to see the end of it as we were late. There are lovely trails in that area through the wooded area, so we put Simon in the stroller and headed off for a hike. There were lots of leaves on the path and Simon wanted to play. There was a lot of leaf throwing and excitement, by both Simon and Isaac. We walked for quite awhile until it was time to pick up Claire from school.

We walked over to a nearby Cafe while Suz went to get Claire and they met up with us at the cafe for lunch. We just got all the food and drinks, when Suz had to run off to pick-up Kate from school. Finally everyone was assembled and we had some hot drinks and lunch.

It was time to head back to the house so that Simon could have his nap and I could make my doctor’s appointment. We thought the doctor’s office was farther than it was, so we opted to drive. This turned out to be a mistake. As Blake was trying to park the truck, he hit the curb. Well there is a metal bar in the curbs that was broken at that exact spot and it pierced our tire and blew it. The sod beside the curb went flying up and some of the dirt and rocks hit the house near the curb and lots landed on top of our truck. We were not happy:( We went off to my appointment. Blake gave them all the insurance information and I went in for my appointment. Blake went out to change the tire when he was done with the insurance.

A blood clot cannot be diagnosed by physically looking at the leg. All that can be determined is if there is a risk and then an ultra-sound needs to be scheduled. The doctor recommended an ultra-sound, because there was the risk it could be a blood clot. My insurance gave me the go ahead so an ultra-sound was scheduled for that afternoon (things happen quickly in a user pay system). My appointment was done before Blake was done with the tire change, so I snapped this picture:

Look at how happy he is! You can see the hole in the tire, there is a flap of rubber sticking up. Uggghh!

With the tire changed we just had enough time to make my ultra-sound appointment. It was really easy to find, so while I dealt with the paperwork there and then went in for my appointment Blake called around and got quotes for tires. My ultra-sound was pretty quick and then we headed back to Suzanne’s house. On the way back the doctor called me with the results and it is not a deep vein blood clot. They are only worried about the clots in the deep veins because those are the ones that can travel to the lungs/heart/brain and cause heart attacks and strokes. It could be a clot in the smaller blood vessels closer to the surface and those ones are not life threatening, just uncomfortable. That is a relief, so I just need to elevate my leg and moderately exercise every couple of hours to keep the blood moving and my body will take care of the clot. Good news. The bad news - tire $300.

We got back and Tash was helping Suzanne make supper. We had a yummy supper of lime chicken tacos with salad.

Sonya