One day, I felt a pain in my leg. It was warm and numb. It eventually got so painful that I could hardly walk on it. A few days in, I went to sit with the family, felt dizzy and started to throw up. My kids were terrified.
I ended up in the hospital for almost a week, diagnosed with a blood clot and put on blood thinners. The problem was that the pain continued, and I couldn’t walk without a walker. I still felt awful when I was discharged home.
It didn't improve. After a few days, I returned to my doctor who referred me to the person who turned out to be "the right doctor." He admitted me that day and scheduled surgery for the following morning to treat the blood clot.
Let's take a moment away from Betty's story to introduce you to Abbott's JETi All-in-One Peripheral Thrombectomy System, used to remove the blood clot in her leg. You can watch a video animation here. It shows how the clot is suctioned and completely fragments the clot, breaking it into pieces that will clog neither the device nor the vessel. Back to Betty.
They explained that the plan was to use a device to remove the blood clot and that a stent would be put in place to keep the vessel open, reducing the chance of another clot forming.
By the time I left the recovery room, the pain that I'd had for a few weeks was already gone and I could move my leg.
The pain has never come back. They wanted me to use a bedpan, or at least the walker to use the bathroom, but I wanted to walk. Felt good after all this time not being able to.
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