"Clot" Your Everyday Emergency

So I've had an eventful week to say the least.  While this blog is usually devoted to my smiling children, annoying dog, or visiting family, I'm going to take a break from the fun and joyful for one post and report on something much more serious.  Last week, I wasn't feeling "right".  And how many times as women do we just brush that aside and say "It's nothing serious", "It'll feel better soon", "I can't take a day off work right now", etc.  I've had all those excuses and more, believe me.  Last Tuesday, I was having a pain in my right side that went from vaguely annoying to downright achey.  I was hanging out with my friend Sarah and her daughter at one of those bouncy house places.  The kids were having a great time, and I'm thinking to myself, What a hassle to find a sitter to go to the doctor for something like "I'm achey in my side.....".  
But it didn't feel better as the day went on (and I don't have an appendix as of November 1997), and a phone call to Carrie made me think it might need to be checked out.  I called my doc, who works two days a week, and lo and behold....who was working THAT day?!  And had an opening in THREE hours?!  So the kids got plopped at Margaret's house and I headed to town, all the while thinking it was going to be a waste of my time.  My doctor listened to my description and said "It's probably a uterine infection or an ovarian cyst.  Both very common, both very treatable".  She did the dreaded swab, then sent me with paperwork to the imaging center to check for a cyst.  And that was what we all figured it was.  And that is would go down in the next month and not be a big deal.
I had my ultrasound the next day and spent more time talking to the technician about her upcoming baby (baby girl, due Sept 17, probably going with the name Peyton because her husband really likes it, you know the drill) than asking about my scan.  The results were going to be read later in the day and my doctor would get in touch with me.  I don't spend another second on it, and instead get stuff ready for Tim and me to take the kids to Kings Dominion that afternoon.  
No lie, we are pulling out of our neighborhood when my doctor calls.  She says something like "You really threw us for a loop today.  We don't normally see a clot with someone who's not pregnant.  And it's in the right vein, so we need to start treatment...." and I'm sorta listening.  Then she says "So get your kids settled and meet me in the emergency room in the next hour".  And I just stop the car.  Because I'm thinking it's a "make an appointment tomorrow" kind of situation.  So she has really thrown me for a loop here.  I said "Now?!"  And she says "Well, don't call an ambulance or anything, but yes, you need immediate treatment and will probably be admitted for the next 3 or 4 days".  I relay the message to Timmy and he calls the grandparents for immediate babysitting services.  And instead of picking up kids for KD, we're packing them a bag and Timmy is shuttling them to MD while I high tail to Mary Washington.
Long story short-->  12 hours between Lovonox shots started immediately to start thinning my blood, one CAT scan to check for...wait for it.....TUMORS because I have NO risk factors for this kind of clot and when you aren't 9 months pregnant or have a raging case of PID, this clot has been known to be caused by malignant tumors.  Another day of bedrest, more shots, lots of bruises, and a second CAT scan because they found "2 nodules" in my lungs.....scary thought.  I'm back to the scanning room to confirm my "malignancies" as the doctor keeps calling them, and find out they are fluid in my lung and nothing to worry about.  Except for the fact that I have this clot that they can't explain and they are doing everything they can to break it down before it dislodges and travels to my lungs, brain, or heart.
I have OVT or Ovarian Vein Thrombosis.  It shows up in 0.09% of pregnant women right after birth.  It's almost never seen otherwise.  It's considered very rare and serious.  I am on blood thinners, Xerelto, for the next three months.  I have a hematologist appointment tomorrow because my doctor thinks that since I didn't just give birth, a hereditary blood clotting disorder might be to blame.  So bring on the syringes, bruises, and bleeding!  We'll find out in 2 weeks if genetics is to blame for my 4 day stint in the hospital.