My right leg has been bothering me all year. First there was stiffness in my hip when I first stand up. Occasionally it felt like it was locking on me. Then my hip was okay but my knee hurt so much. Not only when I was walking, but when I was laying down. My doctor suspects arthritis and gave me exercises to strengthen the leg around my knee.
When I rode the rails to Macomb to see my nephew, my knee suddenly stopped hurting. I got off the Amtrak train with a stiffness up and down my leg. It morphed into a pain in my calf.
My calf muscle felt too short for my leg. Perpetually tight.
I get it. I hear you, Body. Something is wrong with my right leg. So I made an appointment with the doctor.
She measured my calves, found the right one was swollen, and sent me to the hospital. STAT. I kept hearing STAT* over and over. The woman in hospital admittance told me that, even though it was late in the day, they were going to do "everything that's not illegal" to get my ultrasound done.
While I was still filling out the paperwork, the tech came and got me. Took me ahead of other people who arrived in the waiting room before me. It seems my doctor had called ahead and alerted the techs boss that this needed to be done now. I was getting so scared. What was wrong with me?
NOT DVT. NOT PHLEBITIS. That's what my doctor was afraid of. It's just edema. Nothing life threatening. Yea! I'm so relieved (and I didn't even know my life was being threatened!)
The LYFT rides came to about $25. After insurance, so will the tests. I am relieved about that, too.
I have my health. I have good insurance to help me maintain it. I am blessed.
*I learned it comes from the Latin "statim," which means "immediately."
