Hematology Appointment – 7/19/2023

My Hematology appointment was at the Peninsula Cancer Institute & Infusion Center in Williamsburg.

I arrived for my appointment, checked in, sat down for about 1 minute before I was called back by the phlebotomist.

I was walked into the lab for a height and weight and then told to sit down in the chair to have bloodwork down. I told the phlebotomist which vein to use and she hit my vein on the first time. She told me after working as a phlebotomist for 21 years, she listens to her patients because they know their bodies. In total, 12 vials of blood were drawn. I couldn’t believe how many were taken.

The lab orders for today consisted of….

  • Activated Protein C Resistance
  • Antithrombin III Activity
  • Beta-2 Glycoprotein I Ab, G, A, M
  • Cardiolipin Ab
  • Factor V (Leiden) Mutation Analysis
  • Lupus Anticoagulant Reflex
  • Protein C Deficiency Profile
  • Protein S Deficiency Profile
  • Prothrombin gene Mutation
  • CBC with Differential (these actually came back right away
  • Ferritin
  • Iron + TIBC

Once I finished having my blood drawn, I went into a room and a nurse came in to take vital signs. She was super nice and commented on my phone case.

Once she left, about a minute later Dr. Angela DeRidder came in. We discussed the labs she had done today and what she was looking for. She said these labs check for underlying autoimmune deficiencies and other reasons that could have caused the blood clot that lead to the stroke. She also wanted to check my iron because it has been significantly low on a lot of my previous blood draws.

She also did a physical exam.

She told me the lab results would trickle in over the next 2 weeks because some of the test can take up to 2 weeks to come back. She had me schedule a follow up appointment for 2 weeks.

At checkout, I made my appointment for 8/4/2023.

All of the staff at the Peninsula Cancer Institute and Infusion Center are very friendly and make you feel welcomed. This always makes for a pleasant experience.

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TEE appointment – 7/17/2023

I was scheduled for my TEE (Transesophageal Echocardiography) appointment 7/17/2023 with Dr. Alexandra Wood. I received a text reminder on Saturday 7/15/2023 of the appointment with instructions.

My appointment was scheduled for 12:30 pm with an arrival time of 10:30. A very late time for a fasting appointment but it is what it is.

I had to take time off from work, my dad had to reschedule an appointment he had and the hospital is 40 minutes from my home. My dad and I arrived at 10:20 and went to check in for the appointment. I was told by the girl at the check in desk that my appointment had been cancelled. I was very confused as I had received all of the confirmation calls/emails/texts. She looked and noticed that all of the Doctor’s procedures for the day had been cancelled. She called the office to confirm and was told that the office tried to call me. I looked at my phone and I had 0 missed calls and 0 voicemails from the office.

My dad and I left the hospital and I call the office myself to figure out what was going on. The nurse I spoke with insisted that she called me and gave me the exact time of 7:46 am that morning and stated she left a voicemail. I told her that I did not have a missed call, nor did I have a voicemail. She then said the call went straight to voicemail, which is weird in general. I asked why she didn’t call back or call one of my emergency contacts because this isn’t just a office appointment, this is a procedure with anesthesia and a lot had to go into preparation of the appointment. She could not provide me a reason as to why she didn’t call back or call an emergency contact. I was very angry because I have been anxiously awaiting the appointment. I had to stop taking certain medications, make arrangements, etc. I get emergencies happen but as a office, they needed to reach out more than once with the call just going to voicemail to let someone know their procedure had been cancelled. They have a text system, they have mychart where they could have emailed, they have emergency contacts and could have called me again.

The next available appointment the Doctor had for the procedure isn’t until 8/3 and the times are 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00 pm. Pretty ridiculous for a procedure you need to fast for. I opted for the 1:00 appointment because it was the earliest. I asked why myself and the other patients that had their procedures cancelled where not given priority and had to wait so long to have the procedure rescheduled and so late in the day at that. I also mentioned that had I called and cancelled the procedure, I would have been charged a late cancellation fee and asked if they were going to compensate me for my missed time from work, gas, etc. Yes, that may have been unnecessary but I feel is a fair question given the situation. The nurse was getting nasty with me at this point. It doesn’t affect her any because she isn’t the one with the heart issues. Since she was so angry and I clearly was not happy, she told me she would have her manager call me. Well, this was on 7/17 and it is now 7/20 and I have yet to hear from her manager.

I was told I would really like this doctor but so far, I have had a terrible experience and all I can hope for is that the Doctor just hires any staff they can find and she is nice and professional because her office staff have not made my experience a pleasant one. Here’s to hoping that I am able to have my procedure on 8/3.

Monroe Bay Winery

http://www.monroebaywine.com

4786 James Monroe Hwy, Colonial Beach, VA

Monroe Bay Winery, located in Colonial Beach, VA is one of the most beautiful wineries that we have visited. Once you step inside the strawbale barn, you are met with elegance and a an instant feeling of relaxation.

Monroe Bay Winery, offers in person tastings and to us, that is very important. During the pandemic, many wineries paused their tastings and slowly began to offer them again but the design changed. Most wineries offer tasting flights and this takes the personal experience out of a winery experience. Tastings offer a way for a consumer to learn about the different wines offered, food pairings and history of the winery. You also get to engage with other visitors and it makes you feel like home. It was a breath of fresh air to learn that Monroe Bay Winery offers these tastings.

During the tasting, we learned about the different wines offered, history of the winery and amazing conversation with the owner. We learned foods that each wine pairs well with. We also discovered that not one single wine offered we could pass up without bringing a bottle home! All of the wines are fantastic. Typically we are not fans of sweet wines or rosé but we were blown away with the array of flavor to hit our palate.

The winery started out as a straw barn and the owners handmade stained glass out of wine bottles. The owner talked about the process of making the stained glass and how everything came together. To us, it came together very well as the winery is beautiful and it was one of the first things I noticed when we arrived.

A lot of craftsmanship went into making these works of art. We were blown away by the LOVE sign. Truly a unique, one of a kind LOVE sign. (The LOVE signs are all over the state of Virginia. The slogan goes, “Virginia is for lovers”. You can find these signs everywhere).

A little pond nestles by the trees outside of the barn, adding to the beauty of the location.

Taylor enjoyed playing on the slide outside and we had to pull her away. She could have been there all day.

I hope you have the chance to make your way to this wonderful Winery in Colonial Beach, VA. While you are there, take in the barn and the warm company from the owner who will happily discuss the making of the wines and give out amazing suggestions for food pairings.

Cardiology Appointment – 6/27/2023

During my pregnancy I was having some heart issues which included Tachycardia and struggling to catch my breath at times with no activity this can be normal with pregnancy but something felt off about it) and it felt as if my heart stopped for a moment. Since I saw a cardiologist previously during my pregnancy and liked the Doctor, I figured I would try to get an appointment to see them same Doctor. I called their office and since it had been over 3 years, I was told I would be considered a new patients and would need a new referral which my PCP sent over but the office claimed they never received. I called for several days and kept being turned away. At that point, I was turned off my the office because they were not taking me seriously.

I had a lot of people tell me to see Dr. Joseph Adinaro with Riverside Cardiology and they spoke only great things of him. I decided to give his office a call to see if I could get an appointment sometime in the near future. When I called, I talked to either one of their receptionists or a nurse and she told me that she was going to place me on hold for a few minutes while she looked through my hospital notes and would schedule an appointment for me. A few minutes later she got back on the phone and apologized to me saying that she couldn’t get me in to see Dr. Adinaro until 6/27/2023. I said, “what are you apologizing for, that is an extremely quick turnaround time to see a specialist”. This made me feel the office truly cares about their patients.

I got to the office on the morning of 6/27 and was immediately greeted and called back as soon as I sat down. The nurse did an EKG on me and she was so fast with putting the stickers and wire connectors on me. I was blown away. I said to her “this has to be your first time doing this haha”. It was really nice to have an expert performing the EKG. My EKG results were normal.

A few minutes after the nurse left, in comes Dr. Adinaro. After talking for a bit about my experience that led me to the ED on 6/9/2023, we began coming up with a plan of action.

Dr. Adinaro ordered 2 test and an appointment with a Hematologist to see if there was a possibility for something other than the Foramen ovale (the hold in my heart) that could have caused the stroke.

  • TEE – Transesophageal Echocardiography with Dr. Alexandra Ward scheduled for 7/17/2023
  • Hematology Appointment with Dr. Angela DeRidder scheduled for 7/19/2023
  • Cardiac Event Monitor scheduled to being 8/10/2023 for 2 weeks

Dr. Adinaro was very thorough in my care and treatment plan going forward. He added a baby aspirin to my daily medications.

After all of the testing is complete, I am to follow up with his office to discuss further treatment options.

Repeat Lipid Panel – 6/14/2023

I went back to my Primary Care Physician’s office to have a lab only appointment to recheck my Lipid Panel. The phlebotomist is phenomenal. She listened to me when it came to my veins. I unfortunately have terrible veins and I am a very hard stick. She listened and hit my vein on the first attempt. We also had casual conversation during the visit and that is always a bonus.

On 6/15/2023 my Lipid Panel came back and unfortunately the results were similar to the ones taken during my hospital stay. I have high Cholesterol and needed to be put on a Statin. My Doctor called in Atorvastatin for me to begin taking immediately.

Stroke Care – Visit with Primary Care Physician – 6/13/2023

I met with my PCP today for a follow up from my hospital visit. My PCP is amazing, as is her staff and she actually listens and provides quality care.

My Doctor read over all of my hospital notes and she felt that it was not a Hemiplegic Migraine because the treatment that I received after finding the 11cc Penumbra in my brain worked and it worked like the Neurologist said it would work.

Aborted Stroke, this is the term for what I had. It basically means that it is a stroke that was caught in the right amount of time for the Clot Buster medication to work and break up the clot and prevent any brain damage. Had I not received this medication, things would have been a lot worse. I am thankful that the Neurologist I had while I was having my CT done, was the Doctor and not the one that I saw later on in my hospital stay because he dismissed it as “I’m too young for a stroke” and “the CT with perfusion created a false positive”, even though the medication for the clot WORKED!!!!

My doctor did a full neurological work up on me and I passed. This is always a sign of relief.

In conclusion of my appointment, I was given a referral to a Neurologist and a Cardiologist. She also wanted to do a repeat Lipid Panel because it was unsure from the hospital notes when my Lipid panel was taken. Sentara doesn’t put the time the bloodwork was taken, only the time/date when the results are posted. I did not mind at all repeating the bloodwork to ensure we have accurate numbers.

Again, absolute BEST PCP!!

Just in the “Nic of Time” I’m 36 years old and I had an Aborted Stroke – This is my story

Friday 6/9/2023, the day that changed my life!

I worked from home Friday and felt a little off all day. Had symptoms of a sinus infection and took Tylenol Sinus hoping the symptoms would subside. Around 7 pm, I couldn’t feel my right foot. Then it traveled all the way up to my face. I had to think really hard about moving my foot to be able to walk and do things on my right side. I did call my mom and sister because it really didn’t feel right and I was actually concerned. I initially thought, once I get Taylor in bed, I will go to bed and feel better in the morning. My parents and my sister insisted I go to the hospital because this is not something to play around with. My dad came to pick me up and took me to the ER and Bama got Taylor. I was terrified at this point because I couldn’t feel my right side and had to think about breathing. To check if I could feel on my right side, I went to the bathroom and grabbed the mouth wash and swished it around some. I could feel it on my left side but not on my right. That is when panic set in. I arrived at the ER was taken straight back to a bed and had bloodwork done and within a few mins 3 different types of CTs. I was also on with a tele-neurologist during the CTs and had the Pharmacist in the room if it was determined that I needed to have the emergency clot buster medication. I was not able to lift my right arm and leg. I also had no movement in the right side of my face at this point. The first 2 CT scans came back clear but the last one the CT perfusion concluded I had an approximately 11 cc of penumbra on the left side of my brain. I immediately was given TNK aka clot buster and was told I was having a stroke. After being told I am having a stroke the flood gates opened and I couldn’t stop crying and saying to myself, I am too young for this, I exercise 4-5 days a week, I’m very active and always on the go. This can’t be real.

The neurologist said that if it was indeed a Stroke, the medication would work immediately and I should begin to regain movement and feeling on my right side in about 30 minutes. He was correct and slowly the numbness turned into pins and needles. I was happy to have sensation on the right side again. Still couldn’t move much but throughout the night, I started to regain mobility. I was admitted to the ICU and had to have neurological checks every 30 minutes, I was never able to fall asleep inbetween visits, but my head was in 1,000,000 places, even if I tried to sleep, it was going to be restless. I had more bloodwork done during the night. First thing in the morning I had to have an echocardiogram with bubble study done. This test was performed to see if anything in my heart could have caused the stoke. It turned out that the test was positive for shunt with Valsalva. This affects around 20-25% of people, so it is not that uncommon. It basically means that when you are born, you have a small hole in your heart and almost immediately after birth it closes. I am one of the 20-25% where the hole didn’t close. This could be the culprit of the blood clot.

My lipid panel came back and my numbers were awful. High cholesterol, another part of this perfect storm for a stroke at a young age. Unfortunately, my cholesterol being high is hereditary. Next up was an MRI. At this point, I’m so exhausted that I was happy to just lay there and not be poked and assessed for 45 mins. The MRI results came back and I had another tele-neurologist consult with me. This neurologist said he was confident that it was not a stroke and that the penumbra was a false positive. He said the MRI showed no signs of a stroke and he also said it showed no signs of any neurological disorder. Another relief. (My mom has primary progressive MS so a neurological disorder is always concerning). The neurologist said he is fairly confident that what I experienced is a Hemiplegic Migraine. A hemiplegic migraine is a migraine that presents itself as a stroke with one sided numbness/weakness. It is also a migraine that doesn’t typically have traditional migraine symptoms associated with it (no head pain, sensitivity to light, nausea, etc) all of which I didn’t really experience. I had a slight headache due to what I thought was sinus pressure. This was a huge relief and I felt I could breath again and I didn’t have a stroke. At the same time I had so many questions. Why did my CT show a penumbra and a fairly significant one at that and why was the other neurologist confident it was a stroke? I am still questioning it and I will certainly follow up with my PCP, a cardiologist and a neurologist and go from there.

The 2nd neurologist said I absolutely did the right thing by going to the hospital and that when this happens again because with the hemiplegic migraines, it will happen again, that I need to go straight to the ER.

As it sits today, I have regained full function the right side of my body and I am home. I am still very scared and still have a lot of questions but I am okay! I am thankfully to my family and friends that have provided support throughout this scary experience. Very thankful to my sister who forced me to go to the hospital because let’s be real, I hate hospitals and I am stubborn. I’m also very thankful to the nurses in the ER as well as the ICU nurses. My day ICU nurse even requested to have me today. They were all amazing!

Smoke from Canada

It seems like the smoke from Canada is affecting much of the United States. I can say with 100% certainty that here in Virginia we are definitely dealing with the smoke. It isn’t as bad here as northern states but it is still pretty rough. The positive thing about the smoke is the amazing sunsets it is creating. These sunsets don’t even look real. It looks like the sun is photoshopped into the pictures. At the same time, the pictures don’t even begin to do the scenery justice.

6/7/2023

6/8/2023

As the sunset more, the sun began being washed out by the smoke.

I hope you enjoy the photos!

Evening boat ride – 2/28/2023

Blake has the idea that he wants to get his boat out in the water once a month and with today being the last day of the month, he decided to go this evening. I skipped the gym and met him at the dock. His mom, Taylor and Gander were on the boat waiting for me.

Blake goes to start up the boat and nothing happened. Eventually he was able to get it started. This was as soon as I pulled my car up to try to jump the battery.

We get the boat in the water and take off…….

Well, we made it 1/4 mile from the dock and the boat shut off. Blake did not understand what was going on. He just had it going in the driveway a couple days before. I pulled the paddle out as we drifted a good amount further out and the dock was getting further and further away. Blake tried to mess with the battery but no luck. Thankfully we see a boat approaching us and they immediately checked on us and offered to tow us back to the dock.

While Blake was getting the boat out of the water, I did a little mini photo shoot with Taylor who always loves a camera and will do different silly faces any chance she gets.

Yes, we have that child!!

Blake was messing around with the battery and connection cables and I was getting the boat secure and all of a sudden, he tells me it was a loose wire and he fixed it. We decided it wouldn’t hurt to get back on the boat and have a 15 minute boat ride. 

The sky tonight was rocking some beautiful colors and it was the perfect time to ride around the river.

Taylor enjoyed some time with her Bama on the boat ride.

In true Taylor form, she came up to me and decided to relax.

We made it back to the dock without anymore issues! It is always an adventure when we set out to have a relaxing evening.

Santa’s Nature Reserve 2022 – Virginia Living Museum

This is the first year I have taken the kids to the Virginia Living Museum for their Christmas event and I am going to be going yearly for the foreseeable future. The display was incredible.

Entry to the event is with timed tickets which makes it a much more enjoyable experience as it is not very crowded.

The event includes a Storybook Village, Reindeer cookie workshop, Holiday Planetarium Shows (additional purchase) and Photos with Santa.

Once we arrived, we checked in and took a picture of the map and staff directed us to the start of the adventure.

The walk started off with hot chocolate and a display for pictures.

After taking a picture, we went outside and began the nature walk. The lights were simple but beautiful and it felt so peaceful.

We made it to the Dinosaur Discovery Trail part of the walk and this was for sure a kid and adult favorite.

The Dinosaur Discovery trail follow the book How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas? Each page of the book was enlarged and the dinosaurs were dressed up to go along with the different pages.

Austin wanted to have his picture by all of the dinosaurs because his current obsession is Dinosaurs.

Our next stop on the trail was in the Aviary. We were actually able to see a few of the birds resting for the night.

We continued our trail by going around the pond and making our way towards Santa.

Once we finished the nature trail, we got in line to see Santa. Luckily because of the timed ticketing, the line was not long at all.

The Santa and display were absolutely perfect. Beautiful lights and the Santa was fantastic with children.

On the backside of the building where Santa was located is the area set up for decorating cookies. I have to say, this was one of the most, if not the best organized cookie decorating events I have ever been to. Each person was given a cookie with a popsicle stick with icing on it and a bag and a cup of sprinkles. Each bag contained pretzels and m&m’s.

We had just as much fun eating the cookies as we did making them.

We did not do the Planetarium shows because they were the same time as our entry into the event.

We got back inside and the kids received another cup of hot chocolate.

We of course stopped by the gift shop. I got each child a lapel pin for their pin board, the Dinosaur book and an ornament for our travel Christmas Tree.

Prior to leaving the kids wanted to put money in the Coin Vortex Tunnel. Such a fun way to raise money, as the kids always enjoy watching coins with each one we find.

This event at the Virginia Living Museum was absolutely perfect and so much fun! We all had a great time and highly recommend it! I posted a couple of pictures on Facebook and several of my friends went based off of the pictures.

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