May Thurner Syndrome

So, it started about two weeks ago. I was sitting at my desk at work, when I felt my shoe getting tight.

It was then that I took a look down, and saw a leg I didn't recognize. 

My left leg was swollen.  I called Tom, and we went to the urgent care center. At this point, I was in full panic mode.  My heart beat was irratic. And my pulse was high.  The doctor told me, they were calling an ambulance and that I needed to stay still. I had signs of a blood clot. And they were taking no chances.

As I took that lonely ambulance ride to the ER...I flashed back to the day in 1996, when I went to the doctor for a routine check up, and left, knowing my life would never be the same. And with that, I became that same 24 year old girl, scared, and afraid for what would come next.

What came next, wasn't a blood clot(thank God). Instead, I was sent home and told at the ER, they only rule out things...they don't necessarily fix things.  Follow up with your doctor, they said.  Ummm, hello. My doctor is the one who sent me here.

Fast forward two weeks later, Tom and I are at a vascular surgeon.  Questioning as to why, my leg still swells. No injury. No pain. Just swelling. They take a look at a catscan I had last September(due to a pulsing feeling in my left leg).  And there it is.  My spine is compressing my iliac vein. 

A sonogram, and then a confirmation, I have May Thurner Syndrome, a rare condition, that I probably always had, but only now am I symptomatic.

We were relieved for a diagnosis. And to know, I'll be ok.

For now, we are taking measurements daily to see how much swelling occurs. The end result will most likely be a stent put in my vein.

Because the condition is so rare, I may attend a symposium in February, in NYC. 

Yes, I am a rare bird. But, I'm going to be ok and in the end, the result was not the one I had pictured in that ambulance ride, two weeks ago.

And for that I am grateful.