The Four Year Anniversary of My Second Chance

Four years ago on this very day I landed in the emergency room with a very large pulmonary embolism. I hadn’t felt right for nearly two weeks. I visited the doctor on three occasions in less than ten days, but the doctor failed to diagnose my condition. Each time she sent me home and reassured me that I would be okay. On the night of April14th I couldn’t sleep. I woke over and over again with the sensation that I was gasping for air.

By the time morning came I felt an intense pressure in my chest. It felt as though a giant weight was pressing against me. My husband left for work and I went downstairs to wash the laundry. On the way back up from the basement I had to rest. When I reached the top of the stairs I knew there was something horribly wrong.

Actually, in retrospect I knew that something had been horribly wrong for weeks, but since the doctor continually assured me that I was overreacting, I stopped listening to the little voice in my head that was telling me otherwise.

My husband drove home from work that morning and drove me to the hospital. Within thirty minutes the E.R. doctor diagnosed me with a blood clot in my lung. He sent me for further tests to verify the fact, but it turns out that I had 15 of the 16 signs of a clot, signs my doctor never should have missed.

I stayed in the hospital for days hooked up to IVs and scared for my life. It took six more months for the doctors to diagnose the cause of that clot. The diagnosis was followed by a series of tests, procedures and surgery.

Although it has been a long journey back to normalcy and better health I look back upon that day with a clear sense of enlightenment. While I originally cursed that day I now view it as my second chance at life. I have learned lessons in the last four years that may have otherwise taken me a lifetime to attain and as odd as it may sound for that I am eternally grateful.

I am thankful and grateful to my husband who never wavered in his devotion and who stuck by me through some very tough times. I am thankful to my family who poured love on me and prayed for me and were there for me through all those tears.