Whew - what a relief!

Talk about stress! I didn't realize how tense I had been until I got home last night and my jaw was aching! But what a relief finding that the embolism had gone and that there are no blood clots in my legs to worry about.

Of course, the technicians in the radiology department denied any wrong doing - missing the pulmonary embolism on the ct scan 10 days earlier! And were very nice and kind when they did the next one. But I keep thinking about those days when I was walking around as a ticking bomb. What would have happened if it had exploded? I could have died! But the good thing is it didn't and I didn't and now it's gone. The doppler and ultrasound of my legs was interesting to watch - seeing the veins and arteries actually working - pulse, pulse - and the blue and red of the blood swishing back and forth, with sound no less! And best of all, there were no clots!

This is such a small world we live in. The technician who did the scan lives down the road from us, Michael sold him his house, and I talked to his wife a year ago, helping her find other young parents to get together a playgroup!

After the scan and doppler, the doc called, very anxious, and Chris and I went down to his office and we recapped everything going on - got a lot of stuff out of the way, going through the whole process again, to get to where we are now - the visit with the specialist in Seattle on Tuesday. I must say I have been really impressed with Dr. Griffis who is actually a fill-in (locum) doctor for my regular GP who is on holiday. He is so meticulous and concerned. Phones daily to check on me, answers phone calls and actually listens when I talk. He picks up on things, nuances etc - "You minimize things," and takes what I say seriously. He also knows his limitations as a primary care doctor and utilizes the specialists available for consultation. So I figure I am really lucky.

And what was great is that he recommended a glass of wine!

After talking to Mick this morning, and listening to what Debbie has been through, the same sort of symptoms, I am going to tell him about bilharzia, which of course I could have and nobody here would think to look for that. I had it when I was about 11, and threatment was awful - injections every other day with what looked like a horse-needle. Our doctor, Dr. Houghton, lived next door and was a tropical disease specialist. But I remember being petrified every time, walking trhough the fence to their house and Mrs. Houghton who was a nurse would appear with the kidney shaped enamel dish with the boiled, sterilized hyperdermic and shoot me in the butt!! It would hurt like hell! But apparently, the cure now is a round of pills! I can handle that.

So if it's that, it would be a quick fix.