I nearly died...seriously!

I've had the scariest and worst week of my life...this may get long...

I went in Monday for an endoscopic procedure to remove a gallstone that we believed was blocking a duct and causing me excruciating pain for nearly 3 weeks. I was nervous but excited about finally getting some relief. I had the procedure done. The meds they gave me to make me sleepy didn't work and I was awake for and saw the whole thing. That sucked, but I had no idea that things were about to get way worse!

The Dr said that everything looked good though and he got the stone out. He was a bit surprised to find that my duct was not blocked by it and my gallbladder, while full of stones, actually looked remarkably good. He noticed fluid in the sac around my right lung when he was in there with the scope so he told me to follow up with my family dr.

In recovery I wasn't doing well. My heart rate was very, very fast and I wasn't getting enough oxygen. After 30 minutes of not improving he thought maybe I had a bad case of pneumonia so he sent me to the ER. They immediately got me an x-ray and a CAT scan and discovered that I did indeed have pneumonia in and fluid around my right lung AND they also found that I had several bloodclots in both my lungs.

I was immediately admitted to ICU and spent 2 days there on oxygen, antibiotics and heparin. I improved enough to be moved to the regular ward where I spent 2 days. After tonnes of bloodwork, another xray and an ultrasound they decided I was stable enough to come home. I've been home for three days now and while I am still in pain from the fluid in and around my lungs it's manageable enough for me to be at home as long as I have help. DH is still here (he hasn't been to work in nearly a month) and MIL has been here since Sunday and will stay as long as we need her. She has been amazing. They said it will take several weeks for the fluid to be resorbed and the clots will take months to be resorbed.

I have already had an appointment with the clinic that will follow very closely with possibly daily bloodwork until they get the dosage of the bloodthinners right for me. Given that right now they can't say for sure that BCP's were the cause I will be on bloodthinners for 6 months and have already had lots of blood drawn so tests can be done to determine if the cause is genetic. If it is I may have to be on bloodthinners the rest of my life.

So, I am tired and sore and scared. But at the same time I feel so blessed that the Drs took the time to really check me out. Otherwise I would have probably just been put on antibiotics for pneumonia and never known about the clots. I would have continued my BCPs, which they think may have been the cause of the clots and had I continued on them I could have had more clots and died.

I have to hold back tears a lot these days and push the thoughts of "what if" out of my head...I know the fear about what could have been it will ease with time. I am just so, so grateful I am still here.