Hospital
On Tuesday, April 6, 1999, I was admitted to Athens-Limestone Hospital with a deep venous thrombosis. On Friday of that week I went home, only to be admitted to Huntsville Hospital on Tuesday, April 13. That night, and the next two nights, I had surgery on a venous blood clot that ran from my heart to my left knee. Although I almost died, my wonderful vascular surgeon was able to clear away all of the clot and then keep my vena cava from collapsing by placing four metal stents in it in my abdominal region. I was discharged from the hospital on Monday, April 26.Although far from a pleasant experience, this experience made me grow up (quickly) and taught me a lot of things---like how to appreciate life, how to not take anything for granted, and how to go after things I wanted in life. Going through that ordeal made me more mature and more peaceful and a lot nicer, and it also gave me the courage to finally ask out that cute guy in my Western Civ II class (now "that cute guy" is my boyfriend ).
Unfortunately, the medicine they infused into my veins to help dissolve my clot is no longer easily available due to some violations of FDA regulations. The medicine is called urokinase, and it's not only useful in dealing with blood clots---it also has been used to help deal with tumors. Below I have links to some pages you can visit for more information on this drug and the controversy surrounding it. I also have links to some pages about deep venous thrombosis, the circulatory system, and the blood thinner called Coumadin that I have to take every day now.
Coumadin Home Page
Important Drug Warning on UrokinaseUpdate on Urokinase
Picture of Leg with Deep Venous ThrombosisPhlebitis & ThrombosisBACK HOME
