memoir

Blood Clots and Feet

It started with ankle pain I blamed on leg day. Then the pain moved up my leg, and what I thought was another tendon injury turned out to be a blood clot.

Image by geralt - https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/

If you’re receiving this, you previously subscribed to my writing on Substack. I’m on Ghost now. I also went fully anonymous on Substack. A few friends, welcome to the other side of me. It's Hawtorn V. Rabot, HVR, though a few of you know my real name.

So there are rumors out there that I… like feet?

Everyone has them, but they’re nothing special.

So get your mind out of the sock drawer, and let's talk about feet.

On Friday, August 21, I noticed pain on the right inside ankle bone. The lumpy cartilage slash bone on the inside of the foot. I figured I must have gone too hard on a leg day. It kept hurting, and I tried to ignore it.

On Saturday, August 22, the pain moved to the top of the foot.

Sunday, August 23, it moved to the back of my foot.

By Monday the 24, it was the inside of the calf. My skin was red. It was hot to the touch.

I looked up tendons and worried I tore another tendon down there. After tearing my left Achilles twice, I’m constantly aware of my feet. I worried it was the posterior tibial. I called the podiatrist and made an appointment. I thought again and called the surgeon who did my second Achilles surgery. They made an appointment for Wednesday the 26.

The next two days, I loosened my shoes, wore looser socks, and hurt more as I walked. My calf pain moved to the front and back as well.

I went to the orthopedist on Wednesday the 26. My foot was fat and puffy.

The ortho thought it was gout but also gave me a script for an MRI.

On Friday the 28, I got the bloodwork. It hurt to walk. I had my leg elevated at nearly all times I wasn’t walking. I also made the MRI appointment.

By Saturday, August 29, I was in pain all along where I thought that tendon was going up and down the inside of my leg.

On Sunday the 30, I got my results. All my labs had levels for gout in the normal range.

On Monday the 31, it was my MRI appointment, only it wasn’t an MRI. It was an ultrasound at a vein doctor. I either didn’t listen or didn’t comprehend.

The tech was using the goo on the leg. He went all up, down, around. Then he went to the “reflux” test, but it wasn’t acid reflux. He pressed the ultrasound device against my leg and squeezed around it. That’s when I saw bubbles on the screen.

As he squeezed more, I got nauseous. My forehead started to drip, and I told him I might pass out.

I lay down, and someone came in to check my blood pressure.

Then the doctor came in and said it was superficial blood clots in my leg. He told me how much worse it could be, then asked me five different ways if I knew how to call 911. He asked if I knew what it felt like to asphyxiate. I told him I could imagine. I also needed to take 81 mg of aspirin.

I scheduled a follow-up for Wednesday, September 9.

I forgot I scheduled a massage to help the calf muscle pain Wednesday, September 2. I had the therapist not even work on that leg. The words embolism and stroke stayed with me.

In the meantime, I took my med each morning. I tried to use my leg sparingly. My foot was less swollen, and it hurt less when I walked. I no longer looked at new shoes.

I tried to walk some for blood flow. I used heat on the leg from heating pads. I elevated and held my leg up.

I did, however, notice the pain was above my calf. It was above my knee to the quad.

Earlier, I thought the pain was a tendon. Now I realized it was around my femoral artery.

I went to my follow-up on Wednesday, September 9. The clot had spread and gotten higher. I needed the compression socks I avoided. I needed to take real blood thinners. I needed to know how to call 911.

On Thursday the 10, I went to a pharmacy after school and got fitted for a compression sock. I went home and put it on. I’ve been wearing it during the day ever since. I’m taking the real prescription med, and I follow up on Monday the 14.