During my 3rd and 4th year of college, I had gotten used to the changes that were taking place with my body. The swelling became a part of life. If you are wondering if I ever went to a doctor, then the answer is yes. I saw quite a few doctors over the course of my college career. I saw some in Memphis and I saw some in Jonesboro. They all were confused on how healthy I was with this issue. Many of the same tests were ran over and over again. It got to the point that I could go into an appointment and tell them what they were going to test on and why. After several of those visits, I decided to do some research of my own. The diagnosis that they gave me was lymph edema. To be more clearer, I had pitting lymph edema in my lower extremities. Pitting edema is when you can press a finger to the skin and the indention stays visible for awhile. It was neat and disturbing at the same time. I felt like a freak show! The only thing that they could tell me was that something was blocking my blood flow.
One day, my leg was so painful that you couldn't touch it without me wanting to breakdown and cry. I quickly learned that I had developed an infection. Some doctors call it cellulitis and others call it phlebitis. No matter the name; it REALLY hurts! The skin is warm to the touch due to a fever in the area and some times you can see areas of the skin that look like hives. Just a nice reminder, if someone says that they have it or they tell you that their skin hurts when touched lightly, then please believe them! I almost kicked a doctor because he wasn't listening or believing me. He didn't offer an apology or anything. His only words were "I guess it really does hurt." Of course, it cost me $600 (no insurance at the time) for him to come inside the room, touch my leg, comment, and write a prescription all within 5 minutes.
Another doctor sent me to get some type of venogram. One of my teammates took me to the appointment and stayed with me there. Bless her heart! I will never forget the look of fear on her face. I was told that they were going to shoot a radioactive dye into my veins and look at where it goes. What they didn't tell me was the point of entrance. That point of entrance was the web of my toes. Did you notice that toes is plural? Yes, plural!!! There were about 5 doctors in the room. If that wasn't a sign of trouble to come, then I don't know what was. Basically, a doctor for each limb. One nice doctor said that he wanted to switch to holding my hand because he was tired of almost getting kicked by the patients. I warned him that I was stronger than I looked. He just smiled and said that he would be okay. Well, they made a point to tell me and remind me that I am not to move when they are injecting the dye. That is better said than done! So here we go! They start with the web next to my big toe. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! It burned for like 2 minutes straight! They are all talking to me, trying to get me to continue to breathe, and not move. After I finally calmed down, they announced "It's time to move to the next web." Ugh!!! I made it through webs 2 and 3. By the time they got to the pinkie toe, I passed out. I woke up to a light in my eyes, a cold and wet towel on my forehead, and 6 worried faces. They told me what happened and told me that it was time for phase 2 of the test. Like that wasn't enough! During phase 2, I had to lay on this table for 30 minutes. It was important that I didn't move because they were following the dye. They put a monitor in front of me so that I could watch the show. After 30 minutes, nothing happened. The doctors came to the table and said "We don't know what is wrong? It is not moving." I just laughed because that was all that I could do from crying. We already knew that something was blocking it or slowing it down. We wanted to know what and why. They made me walk for about 15 minutes in hopes that it would trigger blood flow. Shawna and I talked about what happened and I reassured her that I was alright. They put me back on the table for another 30 minutes and again, nothing happened. At that point they didn't know what to do. I left that office the same way I came in, hopeless and confused. By the way, the doctor switched back to holding legs.
So, there you have it! My condition was progressing and I guess that wasn't enough. To add to the matter, I began to have seizures. The seizures weren't part of my previous medical history and they did start me on medicine that they said I would have to take for life. I'm still not sure why I get this sudden drop in blood pressure. It is very weird because I can tell you down to the second when I 'm about to pass out. It freaks a lot of people out and it did for me as well in the beginning. After seeing the fear on their faces, I decided to be the calm one and help them through it. I would tell them what to expect and what to do. I think it helped. They don't come a lot and I'm no longer on medicine. I have only had a total of 3 or 4 in my life. I have been seizure free for 3 years now and that is a blessing.
One day, my leg was so painful that you couldn't touch it without me wanting to breakdown and cry. I quickly learned that I had developed an infection. Some doctors call it cellulitis and others call it phlebitis. No matter the name; it REALLY hurts! The skin is warm to the touch due to a fever in the area and some times you can see areas of the skin that look like hives. Just a nice reminder, if someone says that they have it or they tell you that their skin hurts when touched lightly, then please believe them! I almost kicked a doctor because he wasn't listening or believing me. He didn't offer an apology or anything. His only words were "I guess it really does hurt." Of course, it cost me $600 (no insurance at the time) for him to come inside the room, touch my leg, comment, and write a prescription all within 5 minutes.
Another doctor sent me to get some type of venogram. One of my teammates took me to the appointment and stayed with me there. Bless her heart! I will never forget the look of fear on her face. I was told that they were going to shoot a radioactive dye into my veins and look at where it goes. What they didn't tell me was the point of entrance. That point of entrance was the web of my toes. Did you notice that toes is plural? Yes, plural!!! There were about 5 doctors in the room. If that wasn't a sign of trouble to come, then I don't know what was. Basically, a doctor for each limb. One nice doctor said that he wanted to switch to holding my hand because he was tired of almost getting kicked by the patients. I warned him that I was stronger than I looked. He just smiled and said that he would be okay. Well, they made a point to tell me and remind me that I am not to move when they are injecting the dye. That is better said than done! So here we go! They start with the web next to my big toe. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! It burned for like 2 minutes straight! They are all talking to me, trying to get me to continue to breathe, and not move. After I finally calmed down, they announced "It's time to move to the next web." Ugh!!! I made it through webs 2 and 3. By the time they got to the pinkie toe, I passed out. I woke up to a light in my eyes, a cold and wet towel on my forehead, and 6 worried faces. They told me what happened and told me that it was time for phase 2 of the test. Like that wasn't enough! During phase 2, I had to lay on this table for 30 minutes. It was important that I didn't move because they were following the dye. They put a monitor in front of me so that I could watch the show. After 30 minutes, nothing happened. The doctors came to the table and said "We don't know what is wrong? It is not moving." I just laughed because that was all that I could do from crying. We already knew that something was blocking it or slowing it down. We wanted to know what and why. They made me walk for about 15 minutes in hopes that it would trigger blood flow. Shawna and I talked about what happened and I reassured her that I was alright. They put me back on the table for another 30 minutes and again, nothing happened. At that point they didn't know what to do. I left that office the same way I came in, hopeless and confused. By the way, the doctor switched back to holding legs.
So, there you have it! My condition was progressing and I guess that wasn't enough. To add to the matter, I began to have seizures. The seizures weren't part of my previous medical history and they did start me on medicine that they said I would have to take for life. I'm still not sure why I get this sudden drop in blood pressure. It is very weird because I can tell you down to the second when I 'm about to pass out. It freaks a lot of people out and it did for me as well in the beginning. After seeing the fear on their faces, I decided to be the calm one and help them through it. I would tell them what to expect and what to do. I think it helped. They don't come a lot and I'm no longer on medicine. I have only had a total of 3 or 4 in my life. I have been seizure free for 3 years now and that is a blessing.
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