Wild and Weird West Virginia Weekend

What a wild, wild weekend we experienced here at the Tomahawk Residence.  I live in Wild and Wonderful West Virgina but this week it was Wild and Weird West Virginia.

First, I want to explain how I chose the name of this blog.  The "Twist" part is because we're entering into a new phase of our lives, (becoming adoptive parents through foster care) so we know our lives are going to be filled with LOTS of twists and turns.

While adopting, I'll be working an even bigger and more important project:  weight loss.  Turnstiles is both a play on the phrase "twists and turns" as well as a reminder of my arch nemeses: a turnstile.  I'm fat.  I'm not chunky.  I'm not "pleasantly plump".  I'm not "plus sized" or any of those other "lets not try to hurt their feelings so we'll give them a cutesy name" person either.  I'm F to the A to the damn T.  I'm short (5') and carry the bulk of my weight in my belly area so it makes getting through a turnstile IMPOSSIBLE.  In fact whenever we go to a concert/sporting event or something along those lines I am petrified I'll be faced with and STUCK in a turnstile.  I even (and as an infertile this is painful) used the excuse "I'm pregnant is there an alternative entrance" to avoid getting stuck as I *almost* did when my husband and I were at Heintz Field ta a Steeler game.  I seriously thought I was stuck forever.  It was mortifying. So "turnstiles" reminds me of that fear, embarrassment, and limitation my weight has caused.

Finally the "Tomahawk" is from the fact that our last name is Tomasek but since no one can say it (Ta-MASS-ick) Jeff's best friend called him "Tomahawk" and since the nickname stuck, I've now become Mrs. Tomahawk.

Okay...now on to the Wild and Weird Weekend. 

Background info: I have Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and it's severe enough I'm on a medication called Remicade that is administered through an IV infusion at the local oncology center.  I get an infusion every eight weeks and the week prior to the infusion I must get blood drawn to make sure I'm not sick, to determine the level of inflammation in my body, and how much medication I need and if it's being too difficult on my liver. 

Last week I got my blood drawn (I'm a super hard stick so it took her more than once to get the blood) and by Friday I had a small pink spot on my arm that was very tender and warm to the touch.  I went to urgent care and was told I had a superficial vascular blood clot.  I was sent home with instructions to take 600mg Motrin three times a day for five days and apply warm heat three times a day.  By Saturday morning the pinkness had spread and the pain was worse. 

I didn't get that much more concerned because we had a neighborhood emergency.  My husband came up and got me in the morning to show me the firetruck, two ambulances, and three police cars in front of my house.  They were not hustling like it was a medical emergency and with there being so many police vehicles, my mom and I assumed the worst:  death.

Now, this family,  a woman late thirties or mid-forties and her two children (a young girl under 6 and a teen boy under 15) had JUST moved into the home a week to the day.  Family started arriving by the car loads and I had only seen the little girl but not the mother and son.  This left my mom and I to assume: murder/suicide.

After what seemed like forever, two family members took the little girl and then the paramedics rolled a body out.  It was all covered by a sheet so I had no idea if it was the mom or the son.  As the one ambulance pulled away I began I figured the next one would be for the second body.  Only there wasn't a second body.  An hour later the police brought the son home.  The mother had died.  What was weird is that there was no shock, sadness, or crying from the family members who had arrived.  The little girl didn't appear to be crying or upset.  She was bopping in and out the door before leaving.  We still have no idea who called the police or how the woman died but it was so sad to see two motherless children.

My arm continued to get worse even yesterday it was worse: pinker, more swollen, more painful, etc.  So today, after not sleeping well all night and feeling short of breath and tired and not feeling well I called off work just to get rest and feel better.  That was until my doctor's office called asking a question and I mentioned what was going on with my arm.

Well, my Rheumatologist was very concerned about pulmonary embolism so sent me to the hospital for a vascular ultrasound.  A major blood clot was ruled out and the nurse in the cardiac rehab office felt it was cellulitis and that I needed an antibiotic so she called my doctor.  My Rheumy didn't want to prescribe it so they passed the information on to my regular doctor.  The nursing staff at both doctor's offices don't care for each other so all day today I've been in the middle of feuding doctor's offices. 

Now, I've had no sleep, I've been worried about what was wrong, and not feeling well so it didn't go over really well with me when my GP's office called and the nurse yelled at me for involving "the wrong doctor."  I'm still quite upset how I was caught in the middle of an unprofessional hate fest between two doctor offices.  I had to keep telling the GP nurse I hadn't called the other doctor they called ME and since I was to take an infusion this week I needed to make sure I could still have it.  It was when my RA doctor's nurse spoke with my RA doc that it became a big issue of ruling out a potentially dangerous situation.  I'm glad to have had the u/s so we know that it's nothing serious but I still have to go see my GP tomorrow to get an antibiotic and to definately talk to her about her nurse's behavior.  It was appauling.

So, that's my Wild and Weird West Virginia Weekend.  I'm honestly dreading seeing my doc tomorrow to confront her with the way her nurse treated me.  I'm sure I overreacted a touch since I'm exhausted and worried and not feeling well but I still don't need to be caught in the crossfire of two offices that don't get along.

Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to to get some sleep.