In & Out (and I don’t mean the burger joint)

There is never a dull moment in this house.
Ever.
Never.
I’ll say it again.
There is never a dull moment in this house.

I picked Carys up from school and went home. Pretty routine.
Chad has been complaining of some pain in his right leg since we got back from the beach Sunday.
We have been keeping an eye on it, and hoping it was nothing to worry about.
Oh, isn’t that a wonderful thing? To have nothing to worry about?
Someone will have to tell me a story about the wonderful fantasy world OfNothingToWorryAbout one day.
(And I prefer it to be someone under the age of 10, just for laughs.)

Chad had been researching the possible cause of this mystery leg pain on the wonderful internet. The ‘net is truly wonderful, but also capable scaring the bejesus out of me you people, too.
He diagnosed himself and tried a home remedy.

Around 1:45, I told him he should should call Dr. Tatter’s PA and just ask if we should be concerned.
The PA had us call our general physician here in town, and then we got concerned.
However, we knew when we called and suggested Chad might have yet another unexpected post-surgery complication, it would warrant a trip to get an ultrasound. And maybe, possibly, a trip to the ER.

Check the little yes box on both of those possible outcomes.

We were quickly given a 3:00 appointment at a local radiology clinic. I thought we would be in & out. I loaded the girls’ travel backpack with things to keep them busy.
I watched the waiting room turnover four rounds of patients.
And I began to get worried.
What was taking them so long?
I convinced myself that they had found something.
And they didn’t like it.
So I asked the receptionist, who informed me that Chad was nearly done.
Maybe I’m wrong — I’ve been known to be SO wrong. Many times.
But let’s not dwell on that.

Shortly after, Chad walks in to say that we were right.
There is another blood clot.
This time, in his leg – which means we caught it early.
A DVT – Deep Vein Thrombosis, is very serious because it can break away and enter the lungs. We know this is the likely outcome had Chad not paid such close attention this time around. He was in the hospital in late 2007 with pulmonary emboli that probably started as DTVs post-operatively.

We then had to wait a few minutes for the radiology technician to get in touch with our general physician to plan a course of action.

And we were right again.
To the ER we went – directly after we scarfed down a quick bite at Wendy’s.

I had the girls with us.
We had no idea what would happen.
Would he be admitted?
Again?
Do I need help with the girls tomorrow?
What?When?Where?WHY!?!?!

We decided to leave Chad at the ER, not knowing how long it would take for them to see him.
He would call me when he knew what was going on, and we would plan from there.
Carys is very fragile right now, especially given the surprise nature of Chad’s last hospital admittance – so this was the best option.
I dropped him off around 5:30 this evening.

The girls and I came home, and did everything as routinely as possible.
Chad & I were constantly checking in with each other, with me doing the most of the checking. I couldn’t stand not being there, receiving information as it was doled out. But then again, I needed to be with the girls.
We played outside, had a snack and they had a bath.

Chad called me around 7:30 and told me he could come home! I was shocked, really.
We piled in the van and headed back to WakeMed to pick him up.

He was given a partial dose of Lovenox, and directed to follow up with his doctor tomorrow.
Lucky for us, Chad already had an appointment scheduled for tomorrow to have his stitches removed.

We were on our way back home around 8:15, and I’m so thankful!

Brain tumors complicate things, in general.
And now we know, unfortunately, that Chad will have one of those “unexpected” side effects after each surgery.
The pulmonary emboli.
The spinal fluid leak.
The DVT.

Hopefully, we’re done with surgery. For a while, anyway.
And we know that the unexpected should be expected.