Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Listen To Your Body-When I Almost Died

As we get older we come to really understand our own body and signs. Now wether we act on them quickly is another. Like when Im getting a sinus infection or flu-I know what medicine I need to get through it, but on more severe cases I would put things off and see how it goes.

We have 3 healthy children, but after the birth of my third I almost died. When she was about 5 days old I noticed my feet and ankles were pretty swollen. I called the OBGYN office and they told me its common to get that after birth. Then one night I could hear and feel fluid in my lungs. I knew something didn't feel right but I chalked it up to just having a newborn and 17month old.

She was one week old and I went into seizures and had to be rushed to the ER. My heart was pounding so fast it was skipping beats, which isn't good. After being in the Intensive Care unit for a bit they transferred me by ambulance to another hospital more equipped to deal with this. I even got a Mayo Dr., which was the best. They told me I was having rapid heart beats that were dangerously high and needed to control to get them more evenly. After several treatments and medication they were able to stabilize my heart and spent the next week in the hospital.

That day in the hospital where my mom is holding our 17 month daughter freaking out about what they would do with a teenage son, 17 month and 1 week old-my hubby sure felt that stress, having that if I don't make it talk was scary. They told me they were not sure if they could get it under control in time. I was breastfeeding and the ER Dr. said we need to treat you and you will no longer be able to do that between the test and medications. This made me very sad but I knew I had no other choice. In the midst of my going in and out I asked to feed her one last time and cherished every minute of it. I cannot even describe the feeling of looking at your family and knowing this may be the last. Its gut wrenching and puts things into perspective.

For the next 6 months I would wear heart monitors with leads all over and send my signals every day by phone and take the heart medication that made me so tired. Thank goodness my husband is so hands on and my mom stayed for over a month as I was not physically able to take care of the 3 children.  There is nothing more saddening than when my  3 month old baby would jump out of my arms for her daddy. It was that moment when I realized I had not bonded with her. Needless to say I really stepped it up pushing myself to do more. Now she is 5yrs old and is my glue, even more than our other daughter which I didn't think was possible.

 The point is I had that gut feeling something was not right and instead of listening to my body I went along with others telling me its normal. I knew it wasn't normal for me and still I didn't listen. Had I acted when I started that feeling it may not have escalated to the point of beating so fast it was going to stop. As a mother of 3 and a wife I tend to put myself on the back burner, but not until a life threatening situation comes up do you realize that you can't afford not to act immediately. I understand I am a very important person in our family and like to have everything going, but if I take the time when it starts it may not get worse and take more time in the long run. So when you have that gut feeling don't ignore it, even if it turn out to be nothing, don't ignore it. A peace of mind is a great thing to have. Enjoy your life and take care of yourself.

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