I am home!
I guess I haven't done a great job of explaining what happened, and why I needed to be in the hospital. So here's the Coles notes - 10+ years ago I was diagnosed with estrogen dominant PCOS. Because of this I had to undergo fertility treatment for my babies.
Since having the twins I've been experiencing extremely heavy periods that have lasted months, with as little as a 3 day break, upwards to a 2 week break, then another month+ long bleed. I asked for help from my doctor's a few months ago. We've done ultrasounds, sonohystogram, and a uterine biopsy to try and figure it out. I was diagnosed with Endometrial Hyperplasia (extremely thick uterine lining) about 6 weeks ago and the first line of treatment for that is progesterone pills to "clear it out".
I was warned this was going to be a very heavy period. And it was. I switched to a diva cup and TMI alert, but was overflowing it every hour for 2 weeks straight. Even through the night. I was expecting this. It wasn't until 2 weeks ago I noticed I was exhausted (but TBH, there's a lot going on in my life and waking up every hour to change my cup and mop the floor was catching up to me). Last week I started getting dizzy. I couldn't walk up stairs without being out of breath. I couldn't play with the kids. I was confused. It was like I was watching a movie of my life rather than live my life.
I called my doctor thinking my blood pressure was off, but mentioned my symptoms are very similar to what my husband has been experiencing (he has iron deficiency anemia). So my doctor sent me for blood work just to check in and booked me in for a blood pressure check during my lunch break on Tuesday.
Well, my blood pressure was fine, but my blood work showed a different story! My hemoglobin was at 66 (normal is 120-160) and my ferritin (iron) was at 1. Compared to a few months ago where all my levels were normal.
I was immediately taken to the hospital where the OB on call was waiting for me in the ER. They took my blood again and my hemoglobin was in the low 50's. I was bleeding out.
I was hooked up to an IV with meds to try and stop the bleeding and admitted within hours. They started with 2 blood transfusions and 2 iron transfusions. And my levels came up to a 77, but still not great. So they added another 2 units of blood and iron and scheduled me for surgery to stop the bleeding. Wednesday morning my blood pressure tanked and things got a bit scary there for a few hours too.
They performed a D&C and hysteroscopy to remove all the excess tissue, cauterize the bleeding, and have a closer look inside to see what's going on. I don't have results yet, but they said surgery was "uneventful", which is as good as it gets. I'll find out more in a few weeks when I see my OB again.
Can I just talk about what a trip it is to be fully conscious one second, then suddenly waking up in a different room, on a different bed, with different people around you? That's wild! I gotta say that the popsicle post-surgery was the best popsicle I've ever had tho.
They had a covid patient coming into recovery so they ushered me back up to my room to keep me safe and so they could sanitize and lock down the recovery room. Within the hour I was standing up by myself and able to use the bathroom. I was discharged a few hours later and sent on my way home to recover.
At discharge yesterday my hemoglobin was at 97. So still not great, but way better than before. My body will take over now that the bleeding has stopped and hopefully bring me back up to normal.
This was really scary. And it could have had different results if my doctor didn't listen to me or if I tried to tough it out. Listening to my body has been the theme of the past year and I continue to be amazed and thankful that I made the switch to being more in-tune with her. I continue to be very thankful for my family doctor and the specialist team around me who took this very seriously and got me the help I needed immediately.
The hospital staff, and especially the nursing staff at Grand River went above and beyond for me. They were kind, helpful and compassionate.
But the true heros of the day are the people who selflessly donate blood. They saved my life. I encourage everyone to consider to be a donor, especially right now. The blood banks are screaming for help and it's only an hour of your time. Here's the link to sign up if your Canadian https://www.blood.ca/en
So for now, I am home resting. Doing little projects as I can to help get this house ready for sale. Tom and his parents have stepped up immensely in my absence to keep this on track. I'm so thankful for my village and how everyone has pulled together.