The story of Lisa
I know the title sounds kind of morbid, but this is based on a real scenario and it happened during my college years!
A SIMPLE PROCEDURE
I had scheduled an elective surgery to remove my tonsils after years of endless infections!
The tonsillectomy was painful and I had developed severe pain in my ears! This was the most intense pain I ever felt and it just burned like fire! The week after the surgery I went in for a follow up with the ENT specialist and he said everything was fine and that ear pain was sometimes the result of nerves from the surgery!
Several days later I started to bleed when I was in the shower and the pain in my ears seem to let up! My mother had taken me into the emergency Dept. and the doctor on call had cauterized the bleeding area and said everything was fine and sent me home!
WHEN YOU’RE WORST NIGHTMARE BECOMES A REALITY!
I was home several hours and felt a sudden burst of energy! I actually felt better for the first time since the surgery! This was about five hours after the doctor sent me home. I didn’t think anything of it when all of a sudden I felt an overwhelming sense that something terrible was about to happen! I started to get really light headed; I could feel my heart racing and thought I was going to pass out! Then I felt warm sensation running back my throat and I grabbed a Kleenex and the next thing I knew – it was covered with blood! I ran to the bathroom looked in the mirror and I was hemorrhaging!
A RACE AGAINST TIME!
I could barely speak and told my mother my only chance was to drive to the hospital! I knew that I’d bleed out by the time the paramedics would get there and they wouldn’t be able to handle a situation like this one! We drove against a snowstorm and I could feel myself bleeding to death! Made it to the ER in five minutes and the doctor removed a large clot and couldn’t get the hemorrhaging stopped! I could feel myself going into shock! Having my throat cauterized and packed was the most excruciating pain I ever had! My blood pressure fell and I could hear the nurse saying I had no blood pressure! The doctor finally stopped the bleeding and long story short – I was admitted to the hospital and hemorrhaged every twelve to twenty-four hours for the next week!
During this most difficult period – I seemed to exist somewhere between life and death and felt certain I was going to die! Every day was an agonizing journey from bleeding twice per day. This was the worst thing I ever survived! I had spent my entire Christmas holiday in the hospital! My weight dropped from a solid 120 Lbs. down to approximately 74 lbs. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat much and this was a nightmare that didn’t seem to end! The doctor was going to send me home and I started to bleed again and they kept me. I spent my entire holiday in the hospital and started bleeding again once I was sent home! My mother had taken me back to the ER Dept. due to more bleeding!
QUESTIONING THE POSSIBILITY THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG!
I always knew something was wrong and had some internal bleeding a year later after earning my green belt in Shorin-Ryu! I also recall some pain and discomfort when I was ten years old after getting hit while playing kick – ball. My stomach area would get hard and I’d feel like I was going to pass out! That was most likely internal bleeding that went undiagnosed!
The reason I started to bleed nine to ten days after the tonsillectomy was due to a rare genetic condition called WVD (Von Willebrands Disease) type 1. This is a very difficult disorder to diagnose because they need do a very specific blood test for the bleeding disorder and then run bleeding times! The good news is that I was on the milder side of the disorder!
I heard of a rare bleeding condition that occurs after a period of time and after more than eleven years, I was determined to find out what happened after doctors dismissed it as a freak incident! I knew something just wasn’t right even though I didn’t show all the classic signs of Von Willebrands disease! You have to think outside the box and everything is not text – book perfect! I now compete in bodybuilding after surviving a bleeding disorder and breast cancer! I have a website www.fitsurvivor.com My story goes into more detail on my website.
Sincerely, Lisa Nicolette