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Thursday, November 6, 2008

It all started with one little cankle

Over the past few days, I've noticed that one of my ankles has decided to turn into a cankle. You know-- when your ankles are swollen so that your calf just leads straight into your foot. I expected cankles at some point-- they're just part of being pregnant, right? Plus, they're like, way sexy. But I kind of thought they always came as a matched set, so this one did seem a bit odd.


Anyway, I just thought it was kind of funny, but a few people suggested that I might want to call my OB about it, since it is just one leg and that's a little freaky. I called this morning after my prosthodontics practical exam (not good. Don't want to talk about it.) and she brought me in right away. Apparently singular cankles are a sign of a blood clot, which would be a rather unfortunate thing to have. She took a look at my leg and sent me to the outpatient facility of my hospital to get an ultrasound done. Luckily, the tech told me it's not a deep clot (whew!!), so now I'm waiting to hear from my OB as to whether she thinks it's due to a varicosity or a more superficial clot. Neither one of those things are a big deal, so I'm feeling pretty lucky at this point. If I remember correctly from medical school (although chances of this are slim), I'm pretty sure that DVT (deep venous thrombosis) during pregnancy is a sign of an undiagnosed clotting disorder, which is a big problem... I am really, really relieved that it's not that.

So I'm getting a bit tired of having these seemingly little things like a swollen leg or a stomach bug, calling the OB, and getting a "go straight to the hospital, do not pass go, do not collect $200" card. I don't want to go back there until I deliver! You hear that in there?? ::Taps uterus::

2 comments:

MiMi said...

Julia! I am so glad your ok!! I saw your post on the nest but figured you went to the doc so I didnt post anything. Has the swelling gone down at all? I know exactly how you feel with the "go straight to the ER" ughh.. it makes you nervous! But im glad your ok! How was school today? Talk to you soon!!

Ashley T said...

Well I'm glad that everything is ok! :) Hopefully this is the last thing until the baby is born!