So Blessed to be Alive

This past week, unfortunately, presented quite a big scare for me and has altered my life around. Things went a bit awry. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I ended up with a dissected carotid artery. My neck pain was so difficult by Sunday night that I realized I had to visit the ER the following morning. They quickly admitted me and ended up ordering a CT scan and an Angiogram. Upon the doctors return, he indicated that the latter test would not have been ordered had I not mentioned the sound I had heard emanating from inside my neck.  This was absolutely critical, without the test the doctor told me that they would not have found the dissection where the blood clot was forming.  He indicated that I would only have received a CT scan, given medications, and most likely would have returned with either a debilitating stroke or could have passed away. This was quite sobering news to receive, but I so appreciated the grace that I had been shown in sparing my life. The doctor communicated that they were initially planning to operate by inserting a stent into my artery. After the neurosurgeon reviewed the scans, he decided in favor of using blood thinners instead to thin the blood clot and allow the artery wall to heal. I ended up staying in the hospital for 3 days as they observed me and made adjustments to the various medications to see which ones my body responded to the best. I have been told that I am in a very fragile situation with my neck. My prayer is for it to heal smooth without any interior obstruction. I am going to have to be very careful lifting weight, turning my neck, and even changing how I paint in the future.