YOU ARE FUN GIRL AND REALLY HARD TO KILL!
Hi I’m Joyce
Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would find myself in a life-or-death situation!
I am one of six children and spent my formative years growing up in Crownpoint, Indiana. We did typical kid stuff, and we played outside a lot. We grew up with a dad who loved to come outside and play with us and a mother who was beautiful and would tell us, “You have to clean your plate” at dinner, and who would say to us “in or out” if we were doing too much running in and out of the house. She was also infamous for her “fake cursing”, saying things like “son of a beaver” and “hells bells,” and my siblings and I would try to goat her into saying the actual words!
I had an everyday life. I enjoyed raising my two sons to adulthood with my husband of over 30 years. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would find myself in a life-or-death situation!
I had been having issues with my foot, and in November 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, I had to have surgery. I had to stay at home and couldn’t get out much. So, a lot of my time was spent sitting around. Right after Christmas, I noticed that I was constantly feeling extremely tired. Then, by the Monday after New Year, my leg ballooned in size! I decided that I needed to get to the hospital right away. When I arrived, they told me my blood pressure was 185/150, and they had to get it down as quickly as possible, or I might have a stroke. I was having a hypertensive crisis!
In addition to working on getting my blood pressure down, they had to cut my leg out of the cast, and in doing so, they discovered that parts of my leg had atrophied! After they completed the test, they found that I had a clot in my hip flexor, but that wasn’t all. They also discovered several clots in my upper and lower lungs! The doctors at this hospital were not equipped to handle this serious issue and needed to get me transferred to another hospital.
Because of COVID-19, they had to call several hospitals because many were full and could not take patients anymore. I lay in that hospital bed from Monday to Thursday, and then on Friday, the staff found a hospital that was willing to accept me.
I could not sleep because I was afraid I wouldn’t wake up…
Before leaving the first hospital, they decided to put catheters in my leg to administer a blood thinner because my blood was not flowing. They explained the risk to me and that this was a dangerous blood thinner. They told me that I might lose my leg or worse if they didn’t get the blood flowing. I didn’t have much choice. I agreed to let them administer the blood thinner, and I was thankful to wake up the following day.
But then, as they were removing the catheter, some of the blood thinner leaked into my system, and it caused spontaneous bleeding. The whole sack around my heart was bleeding and began to overflow! I remembered them wheeling me out and seeing my blood pressure continue to drop fast, 50, 40, 30, and hearing someone say, “She’s crashing.” My next memory is waking up, and the nurses and doctors were frantic. I was still at the same hospital. Again, I had to lay there, this time for 5 hours. Finally, I moved to the Heart Hospital.
They did not need to open heart surgery, but they did need to drain the blood out of the sack around the heart. They released me three days early because of the need for space due to the large amount of COVID-19 patients coming in. I was finally home and recuperating.
By August, I was blood clot-free and feeling good!! I knew I wanted to do everything I could to take care of myself after my big scare. I saw an advertisement for Fit Chicks and went in that day! Fit Chicks met me where I was, and they came alongside me. They are still coming alongside me as I maintain my health and get stronger each day.
I wasn’t expected to live. One of my cardiologists said, “You are a fun girl and really hard to kill.”
They say hindsight is 20/20. I used to work out regularly when I was younger. As I took on the titles of wife and mother, I cared for everyone else and put their needs before mine. And by the time I was ready to address my needs, I was too tired. I know now that I cannot help others until I take care of myself first. I hope those who read this post learn this right today and start adjusting to take care of themselves first. And know that whoever needs me most likely can wait an hour, an entire afternoon, or longer for me to take care of myself and then help the other person in your life who needs it.
Lastly, I know that I am not the only one who has told herself, “I need to start walking,” “I’m going to start working out,” “I’m going to start eating better … and the “start” might happen, but somehow it doesn’t last. Here’s why it doesn’t last. As hard as we try and are well-intentioned, we can’t do it alone.
You must have a community that will come alongside you, support you, and help you through the struggles
I have found my community here, and I am truly grateful!