Personal Story: Colleen Dietz

Colleen’s story

Colleen Dietz had her leg amputated below the knee 8 years ago due to an infection in her toe from methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an infection resistant to antibiotics and difficult to treat. She has continued to have recurrent MRSA infections; each time, she has to have a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line inserted in her arm to administer her antibiotics.

The last time she had a PICC line inserted (August 2018), something just didn’t feel right. She told her infectious disease doctors that the PICC line felt as if it was stabbing her in the left side of her chest. She could not lay flat, especially on her left side, as her heart would beat rapidly and skip beats. The only way she could sleep was by sitting upright in her office chair. Before this incident, Colleen had never experienced any heart problems. Her PICC line was removed in September 2018, but her symptoms persisted.

Bạn đang xem: Personal Story: Colleen Dietz

Xem thêm : Can You Use Canola Oil As Lube Or For Anal Sex? Is It Safe?

Once Colleen arrived at the hospital in Minneapolis, the doctors ran more tests, including a chest X-ray and an electrocardiogram or EKG. She had two big blood clots in her lungs that were stopping the right side of her heart from pumping blood. The doctors gave her medicine to dissolve the blood clots because they were affecting her heart and could permanently damage it. Within 30 seconds of receiving the medicine, she could take a deep breath. They monitored her very closely for 8 hours to make sure she had no complications from the medicine; fortunately, she didn’t.

Colleen now takes medicine to prevent new blood clots from forming. While she hopes this treatment is only temporary, it could be something she has to take for the rest of her life. Because of these two blood clots, Colleen now has a greater chance for developing future blood clots. The lingering worry that she could have another blood clot has perhaps had the biggest impact on her life. “It’s always in the back of your mind: what if it happens again? It’s scary. I had no idea it was there until it was almost too late. It makes me nervous. As a smoker, now when I cough, I sometimes wonder if it’s just ‘smoker’s cough’ or if it could be a blood clot building back up again. And if I have a chest cold, I often wonder if I should stay in bed and rest or go in to see the doctor because it might be a blood clot.”

Nguồn: https://vuihoctienghan.edu.vn
Danh mục: Info