Kitt's blood clot the size of a tennis ball in her right atrium

Dear Friends,

I have never been so afraid or as sick as this major surgery caused me to be.

I lay in the bed in ICU begging God to stay close to me. With so many incisions, tubes, breathing tubes, cardiac monitoring wires, BP,and oxygen tubes I was terrified.

But I am home now and I will share with you more tomorrow. Thank you for the beautiful cards,notes of love and support.

Love,
Kitt

My Sweet Sweet kitt,
What wonderful news to know that you are home where you belong!
Everyone was thinking about you and loving you through every minute of your trial!
I hope you have a most restful night with dreams as sweet as you are!
Love,
janet
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxo

So glad you are home and recovering. May god give you the strength to keep healing. Rest up and know we are all with you and wish you well.

No one can know how frightening it is to lay there, not knowing if you will live or die, than someone who has been there.

Hugs my Dear one, I am so glad this is behind you know, How very frightening it must have been, I am sorry you have to deal with so much. It's not fair.

So glad to hear you're home! I can only imagine how frightening your surgery and ICU stay were, but God always sees you through and wants you here for a reason. Many thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery and peace to you. We're all here rooting for you. Hugs!

KBK.,

So relieved to hear that you are home.

Rest now and recover...body, mind and spirit!!

Continued prayers and love coming your way.

S.C.

Phew! I am SOOOOOOOO happy you are home..
I will continue praying dear Kitt..

Blessings always

I am very happy to hear you are home it's now time to rest.

Take care

Hugs

Hibee

My Gosh KBK...

That sounds so frightening. I don't know how you did it...I am so sorry you had to go through that. You are so brave.

What was it about an emoblism? In your lung? Did they take care of it, or will it go away on its own?

For now, rest and recover!!

Post if it helps, otherwise take care of you, and know that we are here and cheering you on as you get well from this ordeal

Love you!!

XOXOXOXOXOXO

S.C.

Oh, Kitt!
How awful for you! I know that when my Dad was on the ICU after heart surgery that he couldn't breathe and was trying to indicate it the best way he could! My Mom was able to understand and got the nurse to take care of him PRONTO!!! It was very scary for him too! :(
I am so happy that you are back now...missed you like crazy!!
Know that I love you, Ms. Gem! ;)
janet

I have never experienced that before and I would have been scared to death. Still thinking of you and wishing you well. Once again you are proof you can fight through tough times.

Good Afternoon to Everyone,
It is POD 6 and has taken me this long to be able to believe my body will heal from the insult of the atrial blood clot being removed.

1. My last chemo labs were drawn on 6/30 and my Power Port gave us an extra hard time but it always had been hard to access. I do remember my nurse changing needles and manipulating the port tubing but finally we got the blood samples needed.

2. Tuesday I noticed my face was looking puffy and asked my hubby but he thought I looked fine..............

3. My niece was coming on Thursday, July 3, and the 2 of us spent 2 nights at the Radisson Blu Hotel at Mall of America - my face was round as a volley ball by this time. My neck was swelling and I looked pretty tough as well as the shortness of breath started.

4. My niece and I had our 2 nights at the mall and by the time we got home on Saturday my hubby looked at me and said, dang you're going straight to the ER.

5. In the ER we did lab work and x-rays, gave me some Valium to help me relax and was sent home to rest. I had a CT Scan of chest, abdomen, "neck" and now head scheduled.

6.CT Scan done on Monday and identified what appeared to be a blood clot right at the end of the catheter tip.

7. On Monday the ER Dr. and my Oncologist called me to discuss the clot as well to get me started on Lovenox - a blood thinner.

8 On Thursday, July 10th I had a face to face appointment with my Dr. but guess who had the bigger face with puffy eyes and was still short of breath with a fat neck? No, not the Dr; it was me, little ole butter ball, Kitt. [img]/community/emoticons/devil.gif[/img]

I was ordered straight to the hospital and spent 2 days on Heparin ( blood thinner) as well as my Port which I had for 2 years was removed in surgery in our home town hospital.

9. Discharged home again on the Lovenox................. and Wednesday morning- 7/16, I got my trip up town to the big city hospital.............I was scheduled for a venogram at 0900. A venogram is an X-ray test that takes pictures of the blood flow through the veins in a certain area of the body. Before we headed into the OR I was told I would be spending the night so I did some quick scrambling to arrange for my son to come to the hospital so my gal-friend could go home.

10. Things were going well for about 15 minutes when I heard the interventional radiologist say - "oh, oh, we have to stop, her right atrium is full and I knew what he meant - I had a large blood clot starting in the area where my Power Port Catheter had been and had moved into the right atrial chamber of my heart. The Dr. gently explained to me I was no longer a candidate for the clot busting medication they had intended to use when the surgery was aborted.

11. And now the Drs. were in a daunting challenge. If the clot came lose, the consequences would likely be catastrophic to me.

12. The lead surgeon promised me he would round up a lot of great Drs. as there was a device that had been found to be successful in practice.

13. Friday I was back for a heart MRI. Tuesday for a pre-op exam as well as lab work and on Thursday, 7/24/14, I had my clot removed in surgery by the device invented by AngioDynamics known as the "AngioVac". First time it had ever been used by this hospital ................

The clot removed was a bit smaller than a tennis ball; some pieces of the clot broke off and made their way to my lung thus Lovenox shots twice daily.

I woke up in ICU and was in panic mode as I wanted the breathing tube out but the staff said no and than tied down my wrists so I could not reach to ET tube to pull it out...............which I never intended to do, I just wanted someone to suction my yucked up airway. 6 hours later they pulled the tube in a traumatic way and all I could do was squeak like a mouse with this balloon head. Perhaps I am a candidate for Macy's Thanksgivings Day parade??

The next couple of days I felt like I was chewed up and spit out by uncaring staff - I had a half of a bed bath the night of surgery, refused to give me IV pain med and told me once the ET tube was removed I was no longer eligible for IV pain meds............................OWWWWWWWWWWW.

Dr. came in about an hour later and wanted to know who told me that. He had a bit of an attitude until I broke and grabbed the sleeve of his coat asking him to please understand this is not just about the blood clot but about years and years of trauma, sad, sad times and , yes, advanced stage colon cancer.

I don't want to be brave for the staff, I want to be comfortable so I can be with my family. I told him I knew my outcome and there would be no more ventilators ETC - quality is what I need. I prayed that night for God to stop the pain and all the mixed emotions.

So we move forward from here and start letting go of the fears I was mashed under. I am climbing back up so the ole Kitt is right here, a bit slower but wiser.

Love to all,
Kitt

kitt , i pray for you , i watch my 13 yr old go through cancer , it was horrible , but he is alive and well and cancer free . i remember when the entire month of oct he was on feeding tubes , etc , not eating , or drinking , just laying there , he was so strong , i was a mess , .... you are so strong kitt , you give others hope even when you have so much of your own life and things that you are going through , kitt i know that God is a healer and he hears you , i pray for you and im happy that your ok ... you are truly a gift from God