This journey of ours began as any normal day on August 7th. That morning I was excited because I had an appointment with an allergist to tell me what this strange rash was that was all over my body. I had been fighting a rash since June (It definitely affected swimsuit season - didn't wear one) and 3 doctors told me as was allergic to something. If I was allergic to something then I wanted to know what it was, thus my appointment that morning. As the appointment with Dr. Sullivan continued nothing he tested for came back positive. At this point he thought that maybe something else was at play and he ordered some blood work. So I trooped downstairs at McKay Dee and had my blood drawn and walked out the door - I had a busy day and needed to get going!
Later that afternoon I was at the pharmacy and needed to pick up a prescription from Dr. Sullivan. The pharmacy had no record of it so I called the doctor's office. The receptionist said that Dr. Sullivan actually wanted to speak with me so she put me through to his phone. He said that the pathologist has seen something strange in my blood schmear and wanted more test. The orders were at his office so I could just come in and pick them up. Being the busy person that we all are... I asked if I could wait until Monday? He agreed (he had no idea what the blood shcmear had shown.) I hung up and thought "OK, one more thing to do before we leave town on Monday....put it on the to-do list."
Friday morning when I woke up my left leg was swollen. I thought that was weird but thought I would just watch it. We were up early and heading to Provo for the last day of an art and writing camp for Callie and her cousin, Camille. I was taking Elizabeth and her best friend, Gabby with us so that we could all go to Seven Peaks Water park after the camp was done. As the morning wore on and we walked BYU campus my leg continued to swell and then I felt a warm spot on my calf. Loren convinced me to drop the kids off at the water park and go to the instacare in Provo. (I was just going to wait until I got home and have it checked out.) Instacare took one look and sent me next door to the ER. I called Loren in tears....I had to go the ER, he was in Lehi at work, Emily was home in Ogden and I had 4 kids (2 of which were not mine) at a water park! Thankfully Loren hopped in his car and came to my rescue. The ER didn't find any evidence of a blood clot but they did want to draw more blood. I asked that they not repeat any tests that had been ordered the previous day (trying to save money). When the PA came back she said that my white blood cell count was really high (31,000) and the day before it had been 28,000. Normal zone is 4-10,000. At this point, they weren't sure what to do with me so I stayed at the ER while Loren went to the water park to pick up the kids and take them to his parents' home for some pizza (it is dinner time)! Meanwhile the ER can't decide if I am going to be released and follow up with a hematologist/oncologist on Monday or admit me to the hospital. I couldn't help think that those were two vastly different options.
The decision was made to release me from the hospital and let me follow up on Monday. Needless to say, I was thrilled with this decision... I could delay our trip to the cabin on Monday for a few hours while I finished up and I would have Saturday to get ready for company that was coming on Tuesday. So we picked up the girls and headed home after an eventful Friday.
After my breakfast in bed on Saturday for my birthday, it was time to clean the house. Loren went to run errands (buying my present which I still haven't seen) and the girls and I worked on cleaning. After I was done I hopped in the shower and just as I got out the phone rang. Caller ID said "LDS Hospital" and the thought went throught my mind "This can't be good." I answered the phone and a man on the other end introduced himself as Dr. Finn Petersen. He told me that the lab in Provo had sent up my blood samples to him and there was something seriously wrong with my blood. I needed to pack a bag and come to LDS Hospital immediately to be admitted. I asked how long I was to stay and he said anywhere from a few days to 6 weeks. How do you pack for that??!!!! I called Loren and he ordered the guy installing bluetooth in my car (my birthday present) to get out of the car NOW! and came home. My sisters and brother-in-law came right over and after giving me a beautiful priesthood blessing and the promise that my girls would be with their cousins, Loren and I drove to the hospital with the orders to go to the 8th floor east nurses desk - they would be waiting for us.
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