Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)
Assignment #3. Alchemy. Air.
Task: This weeks task will be to write a story in which the character realizes how important air is. For example, they could be having a panic attack and realize that they can't breathe. I want you to be creative in this task, and let your imaginations go wild!
A/N: Okay, so this story is taken from real life. This is something that actually happened to me ten days after my eldest daughter was born. As it turns out, I have a blood condition that I knew nothing about until I had a Pulmonary Embolism and a DVT in my left leg. This condition is called Factor V Leiden (Heterozygous) Which in lamens terms means I'm prone to blood clots. But is especially worse if I am pregnant, flying or having surgery.
So any surgery now, I have to have a therapeutic dose of Heparin before and then after. (I've had surgery to make sure I don't fall pregnant again. As I had a second PE during my third pregnancy)
After this PE and DVT I was put on Warfarin tablets, with weekly blood tests to make sure my levels were stable. Now thankfully I don't need to live my life of either Heparin injections or Warfarin tablets.
This story was extremely cathartic for me to write. So please, no flames, and no arrows...
Thank you to my dear, Ellen, for Beta-ring this for me.
I'll never know what caused me to awaken from my slumber, whether it was the sound of my baby snuffling, or whether it was the sensation of my body itself due to the lack of oxygen - either way, I'm glad I did wake up...
I'd been sleeping soundly, when I went from oblivion to wakefulness. The pain in my chest was excruciating, and I could hardly draw air.
"Draco... wake... up. I... can't... breathe," I said painfully, gasping for air between my words.
"Huh? What's the matter, Hermione?"
"Call... an... ambulance... I can't breathe..."
He quickly rolled over and looked at me. He watched as I tried to draw staggering breaths of much needed oxygen. He shot out of bed and ran to the living room to grab his phone.
I tried my hardest to remain calm. I knew if I got too agitated that breathing would become even more difficult. As he entered the room again I could see a wild, worried look etched on his face as he gave the controller the details.
"It's alright, Hermione, the ambulance is on its way."
The best I could do was nod.
"Right, I need to go and sort out Rosie. I'll be right back."
Hurriedly Draco rushed from the room. Within minutes he was back with Rosie in his arms and her cuddly warm all in one coat. He gently laid her coat out and placed her on top, then he softly tucked her inside of it.
I still couldn't believe it had only been ten days ago that I gave birth to such a perfect little angel. We hardly knew she was there a lot of the time. Except when it came to feeding time - then we knew!
Moments later the ambulance drew up outside, its blue lights flashing. Draco ran to open the door and admit the ambulance crew. Within seconds two burly gentlemen barged their way into the bedroom.
"Hermione, isn't it? Let's have a look at you," said one of the men.
He pulled out a stethoscope and listen to my chest and heart.
"Hermione, can you try to sit up please?"
With help, I managed to pull myself into a sitting position. The stethoscope was cold against my back as I was examined further.
"Greg, go and get an oxygen cylinder and mask. Okay, Hermione, I'm going to give you some oxygen, alright?"
I just nodded.
Minutes later and I was being helped from the bed. I had a God awful pain in my left calf too, something I assumed was a pulled muscle from when I was in labour. But as it transpired, it was something much worse.
"Sir, has your wife got a dressing gown? We can't fit the trolley in here, so we'll have to help her walk out to the ambulance."
"A dressing gown?" said Draco wildly before pulling himself together. "Yes, yes of course."
He hurried to the wardrobe and pulled the door open. He quickly grabbed the white towelling gown and handed it to the man.
"That's it, now hold on to me and I'm going to help you walk out to the ambulance, okay?"
The walk was slow going and painful. I winced and wheezed inch by inch. Draco followed in my wake, baby Rosie up in one arm, her travel bag dangling from the other.
Once outside the block of flats where we lived, I was helped onto the trolley just outside the main door. I was grateful not to have to walk any further; by now I really was having trouble breathing and I felt like I was going to pass out. My leg was ready to give way any second.
Quickly I was whisked into the ambulance and secured for the ride to the hospital. Draco quickly scrambled inside and sat down beside me, his hand taking mine and giving it a gentle squeeze.
XOXO
En-route, I tried to focus on what the paramedic was asking questions about, but I couldn't do it. My chest felt like it was going to cave in any moment, and the interior of the ambulance swam before my eyes. I felt tears coursing tracks down my cheeks, I was so very scared. I had never known anything like it before.
Once we arrived at the hospital, there was a flurry of activity as I was whisked from the ambulance into a cubicle in the A&E department. I was hooked up to a heart rate monitor which told the Doctor very quickly that I was Tachycardic. My SATs were only 60% so the oxygen was turned up.
The doctor examined me quickly, gently but thoroughly. He asked probing questions of us both. I also pointed out the pain in my leg which he quickly examined. The whole time I kept my eyes fastened on to my husband and daughter. My poor, poor Draco looked so scared and distraught. Right now I felt like he was being punished for some ungodly reason.
"Okay, Mrs Malfoy, we're going to send you for a chest x-ray and an x-ray on your leg."
Again all I could do was nod.
Once we were alone again, Draco gently cuddled me to his shoulder.
"It's going to be alright Hermione. You're strong, and I know you can get through this," he said softly before kissing me on the forehead.
Tears welled in my eyes again, as I gently stroked my husband's cheek and my beautiful little girl's face.
A little while later I was rushed off to the x-ray department for my chest and leg x-ray. The radiographer and a nurse helped me into the position they needed. Then I was taken off to a ward to rest and to carry on with the high dose oxygen.
XOXOX
Later that day the Doctor came by to say that I would need to go and have a CT scan the next day, as they were suspecting that I'd had a Pulmonary Embolism and a DVT. Draco looked blankly at the Doctor.
"What the hell is a Pulmonary whatsist and a DTV?" asked Draco agitatedly.
"I'm sorry, Mr Malfoy, a Pulmonary Embolism is lots of blood clots in the lungs, which is why your wife is having trouble breathing. The DVT is a Deep Vein Thrombosis, which is a blood clot deep inside the vein of her leg. We are going to start your wife on a course of Heparin which is an anti-coagulant. This should help to thin the blood and help to dissolve the blood clots, thus, making it easier for your wife to breathe again."
The Doctor excused himself from the room as his pager beeped. A nurse came in and put a canula in the back of my hand ready for the Haematologist to come and give me my first dose of Heparin. But first the nurse took a load of bloods so they could run some tests.
"How the hell did this happen? Why did it happen? Did you even know about this?" asked Draco as question after question poured forth from his lips.
I knew these questions were rhetorical. He knew full well that I had absolutely no idea how this had come about.
"Can... you... ring... mum... and ... dad?" I managed to stutter.
Just then Rosie started to wail for a feed.
XOXOX
I just about managed to rest overnight. The only way I could sleep was to be propped up really high. My mum and dad had arrived late in the afternoon to collect Draco and Rosie. Mum had been in bits - which was understandable. To see me hooked up to machines and breathing with the aid of oxygen would be enough to scar any person's memory.
"Hello, my darling, did you manage to sleep okay?" asked Draco when he arrived.
"Yeah," was all I could say.
Draco lent over me and kissed my forehead tenderly.
"Rosie is missing her Mummy, would you like a cuddle?"
I pleadingly held out my arms to my baby girl. Gently Draco lifted her out of her baby seat, and placed her gently in my arms. I looked at her in amazement - she was so perfect and so beautiful. I was amazed that I could produce such a gorgeous child. Draco sat in the visitor's chair and stretched his hands out to stroke my face and Rosie's small face.
"I love you both so much."
A couple of hours later a doctor arrived to tell me that they were ready to take me down to Nuclear Medicine for my CT scan.
"Okay Mrs Malfoy, we'll need to give you a serum through your canula. The only thing is, it's going to make you slightly radioactive for twelve hours. So that means you won't be able to hug or kiss anyone during that time."
I looked at the Doctor incredulously. I was going to be slightly radioactive for half a day? I promptly burst into tears. That would mean I wouldn't be able to hold my precious Rosie.
"Hermione, it's alright, it's okay. You need to have this done. We need to know once and for all if you've had a... a..."
"Pulmonary Embolism," the Doctor cut in gently. "Someone will be along shortly to take you down."
"Hermione, I know this is going to be hard. But if it means that we get a definitive answer, then at least we'll know, and we can get the treatment you need."
XOXOX
The scan was done, and I was back up on the ward. I was grateful that I was in a side room by myself. Since going back up to the ward, I'd done nothing but cry. Draco and Rosie were still with me, but it was killing me that I couldn't touch either of them. It was doubly hard when my mum and dad came to see me. I couldn't even cuddle my mum, which made me cry even harder. All I wanted right now was my mum to make me feel all better.
"Don't cry, baby, it'll all be over soon and you'll be home," said my mum soothingly. "Come on, calm down, or your breathing will become laboured again."
Eventually I started to relax and calm down. For the rest of the day I drifted in and out of sleep.
XOXOX
Finally the results came through. I'd definitely had a Pulmonary Embolism, and a Deep Vein Thrombosis. I was to be put under the Haemophilia Centre under the care of Mr Ronson. I was put on Warfarin tablets, and had to go for weekly blood tests to make sure my blood levels were stable.
From the blood tests they'd done, it turned out that I had a blood condition that I knew nothing about. A condition called 'Factor V Leiden' - a thrombophilia disorder of blood clotting. An increased tendency to form abnormal blood clots in blood vessels - clots that form in large veins in the legs or that travel through the blood stream and lodges[lodge] in the lungs.
No one in the family had ever heard of it, so we had no idea from whom it came from. I didn't know enough about my family's medical history.
Slowly but surely, I started to feel better. My breathing slowly improved, though it was still painful if I should breathe in too deeply. The pain in my chest and leg started to recede, though I still had to sleep virtually sat up. Draco would have to get Rosie for me if she needed a feed during the night, as I wasn't allowed to move around too much to start with. I would be so glad when my life got back to normal and I could enjoy my baby girl properly.