Long time, no post......

I haven't blogged for just over a week but that doesn't mean to say I haven't been up to much.  I had a great week off work (my day job that is) last week.  I sorted through all my cards, made more cards and embellishments (although not as many as I'd planned!), had a custom order for two birthday cards to do, celebrated my first wedding anniversary and went out to dinner, went to the cinema a couple of times, met up with friends and finished off the week with a trip to the hospital!

Some handbag embellishments I made - I did 10 of each design

I started getting a pain in my left leg late Thursday evening and by Sunday it had gotten worse.  As I had a DVT a few years ago, and the pain was similar, I thought I better get it checked out.  I didn't consider it an emergency so instead of going to A&E, I went to the NHS walk-in clinic - a mistake - I waited nearly an hour just to be told there was nothing they could do for me there, I'd have to go to A&E.  But if I'd have turned up on Friday they would've been able to help!  That's the trouble with being ill at the weekend.  So off I limped to A&E, for an even longer wait.

Over an hour had passed and then I got called through.  Great I thought, that wasn't too long to wait, then realised I was just being assesed by the nurse at this stage.  She measured my legs (this is to check for swelling which is one of the symptoms of a DVT) but my leg wasn't swollen - it didn't swell the last time as I'm a bit of a freak, and have two popliteal viens in my left leg, which meant my symptoms weren't as severe.  Then she took some blood, which has left a big bruise, and then it was back to the waiting area for more waiting, till I could see a doctor.

More time passed, sitting listening to people moaning about having to wait so long - it's A&E, notorious for waiting long periods of time to be seen.  You'd think that given the amount of time you have to wait they could provide you with more comfortable seating, my bum was incredibly numb, and you couldn't get up and wander around for fear of losing your seat.

Finally I got called in to see the doctor, went over the same things as with the nurse, he checked to see if my blood test results were back - they weren't - so guess where I was sent off too....that's right, back to the waiting area!

Yet more time passed, then a nurse called my name.....but this was just to inform me that they hadn't forgotten about me and that my blood was being tested as we speak, and it should take 15-20 minutes.  So I went back to waiting.  By this stage I not only had a pain in my leg, but a numb bum, was very thirsty and getting hungry too.  Not to mention being very fed up of waiting.

At last I was called through for the results (I'd been at the hospital for a total of 4½ hours!), blood test was positive which wasn't good news.  They said it was likely to be a DVT but I'd need a scan on my leg to find out for sure.  So I was given an injection of Heparin (to thin my blood) and sent on my way.  I was being referred to the DVT nurse so had to wait for a call the next day for my appointment.

After having the ultrasound scan on my leg the next day (which was a bit of a palarva, someone had to come in and squeeze my leg to get the blood pumping through the veins!), they couldn't find any signs of a clot, which was good news.

So I was referred back to my GP, for her to say I'd either pulled the tendons or it was just one of those unexplained pains!  So I've got to hope it clears up all by itself.  So far there's not been much change and I'm still limping about, but at least it's not a DVT afterall.