My husband and I had COVID right around Christmas last year. Thanks to the vaccines, I didn’t feel extremely ill—just some aches and pains, coughing, sinus pain, and shortness of breath. I called my primary care provider, and the person on call said to just treat the symptoms. She prescribed cough medicine and an antibiotic for the apparent sinus infection.
A week or so later, I saw my primary for something else, and I told her, “I don’t think my leg is supposed to look like this.” It had become swollen and painful, and my foot was dusky. The ultrasonographer in the practice was gone for the day. So my primary called a colleague in the ER who said she should bring me down there. My husband was waiting in the car, since we had planned to go out to dinner after my appointment.
As I followed my provider to the ER, I couldn’t keep up with her due to my shortness of breath. In the ER, my blood pressure was very high. An ultrasound was performed, and the ER doc told me that my left leg was “loaded with clots.” I uttered some expletives and called my husband to come in. I was moved from the triage area to critical care. A heparin drip was started to break up the clots, and CT scans were performed. Not only did I have extensive deep vein thromboses in my left leg, but I had pulmonary emboli in my right lung. I was admitted to critical care (and remained there for the next five days).
A vascular surgeon came in and explained what he saw. He ordered another ultrasound, which showed more clots. Surgery was recommended, once the heparin showed an effect. He removed all of the clots above my knee, one of which was 12 inches long. I left the hospital on the blood thinner Eliquis two days later.
I still have a little shortness of breath, and my leg sometimes swells and aches. Compression stockings are my new friends. I am so very grateful to be here to tell this story.
Debra Bures
Hinckley, Ohio