This post is about three things: my personal health, my experience in the American hospital system, as well as immigrants and what’s been happening here in Minnesota.

First, my own health: late last week, I started having pain in my lower back that felt like sciatic pain. Over the next couple of days, it started radiating down the back of my left leg, feeling like muscle strain in my calf and hamstring. By Saturday, I was having a hard time walking up stairs, and by Sunday evening, my left leg had swollen significantly. I worried, of course, but waited until Monday morning, after a call to the nurse line, to go to urgent care. At urgent care, they did an ultrasound, which led to a CT scan, which led to urgent instructions for me to get to the ER immediately: they had detected deep vein thrombosis in my leg and pelvis. I called Andrew at school, and thankfully, he was able to come immediately. We went to the ER nearby, a hospital I hadn’t been to before, but had heard good things about. I honestly had no idea where to go as I haven’t had to go to the ER before, except related to childbirth or pregnancy related issues, or for our children, so I picked the closest hospital in Woodbury. The urgent care PA had already called ahead and sent them my ultrasound and CT scan results, so I could be seen quickly.

I was breathing and presenting normally, except for my extremely swollen leg, so it was a very weird experience, but as soon as I was set up in an ER bed, they hooked me up to a blood thinner via IV. They did a different ultrasound, and a different CT scan that included my lungs, and then all I could do was wait. As it turns out, the procedure they wanted to do to remove my clots could not be done at the hospital I was waiting in, so I had to be transferred to a different hospital, and the hold up there was waiting for a bed. I stayed overnight in the ER on Monday, and late into Tuesday afternoon before I could be transferred. By late Tuesday, I was in the right hospital, but too late to do the procedure that day. I would be put on the schedule for Wednesday. By Wednesday afternoon, over 48 hours after I had landed in the ER, I had a two hour thrombectomy with an interventional radiology team to remove the clots. After the procedure, my blood pressure tanked, and my hemoglobin was low, so I stayed in the hospital until Friday afternoon, when everything had safely stabilized.

We still don’t know for sure what caused the clots in the first place. The interventional radiologist who removed the clots in my pelvis said they seemed “not new” so who knows how long they had been there? The clots in my legs had already cleared out by the time they did the procedure, probably due to being on blood thinners and being in a horizontal position for almost two days, but there were persistent ones in my pelvis to remove. There’s a condition called May-Thurners, which I may have, or I may have a blood disorder, or there could be any number of things that happened that we may never know the answer to. Right now, I am recovering at home and am walking normally, but I am very tired due to being poked, prodded, blood pressure checked, etc at all hours in the hospital for five days. I’ll be on blood thinners for at least 3 months before a follow up where we might be able to get some answers. I am so grateful for my family, for our incredible circle of support, which includes friends, colleagues, and school connections. Too many to thank in this post, but know you are so appreciated no matter how you may have helped. And sorry if this is how you’re finding out! It was a bananas week, with lots of not knowing until we knew.

Second: the American hospital system. Every SINGLE person I came into contact with, from urgent care, to ER, to the ambulance, to the eventual hospital I had my procedure in, was so great. Sure, there may have been blood draws that were more painful than others, or nurses who were overly chatty at 2am, beeping that threatened my sanity, or people who flipped the lights on at 4am without much warning, but minor inconveniences over the course of five days of care. And every single person I asked about the bed situation and why it took so long to get the procedure said the same thing: it’s this way in EVERY hospital in the Twin Cities, AND it’s a problem. I knew this. I knew things were broken, that the only people who suffer from executive decisions to consolidate services and reduce beds and maximize profits, are the people receiving and giving the care. It’s always another thing experiencing it. It was eye opening. The internal radiology PA I talked to about my procedure on Wednesday said they were all ready for me on Monday afternoon as soon as they got my case, but they didn’t get to me until Wednesday because there was nowhere to put me to recover. The doctors in the ER I was stuck in weighed whether to take it up the chain and yell and cajole to make space for me based on how stable I was. I didn’t argue. I “felt fine” and wasn’t in an “emergency.” But it emotionally felt really shitty by Tuesday afternoon, feeling like I could be a ticking time bomb and couldn’t be moved up unless my clots progressed to a very serious pulmonary embolism.

In the time I was in the final hospital, I got to chatting with some of the nurses, and we talked a lot while I took my walks on the floor, wheeling my IV pole around. One told me there were patients who stayed for weeks with chronic conditions that would be better suited to a rehab center or a nursing facility, but that there were shortages there, or lack of insurance coverage. My case was not special or different from any of the others: this is how the system works. When you’re in a gray area (not an immediate emergency OR not scheduled for procedures), you wait, even if medically, it would be optimal to treat you. And the ironic thing is: my insurance now has to cover a five day hospital visit, plus an ambulance transfer, because of those “money saving” practices. That seems like an unsustainable system on so many levels. I am grateful to have good insurance, although I will not be surprised if there are phone calls and appeals to come as bills roll in.

Third: immigrants and what’s been happening in Minnesota. Obviously, what has been happening with Operation Terrorize Minnesota has been outrageous. So many of our friends and family from out of the area have been reaching out, donating funds for the community, and asking how to help. We personally know people who have been in hiding, whose family members have been abducted, and every single person I know has seen I C E or been affected somehow via work, school, or just simply living their lives in our neighborhoods. It’s not over, and the work continues. While I was in the hospital, I was acutely aware of how many people working there could be targets via racial or accent profiling. I was also acutely aware of how vulnerable I felt in a hospital bed, and how insane it is that I C E has been in our hospitals, stalking workers and patients. I was treated with so much kindness, warmth, and care while I was in the hospital. My constant wish while I was stuck in that bed was that every person I met, whether it was the person who came in to clean my room, brought me food, cooked my food, drew my blood, analyzed my blood, took my vitals, measured my meds, cleaned my linens, charted my progress, stocked the supplies, prepped the procedure, measured and monitored my sedation, performed the procedure, cleaned up after the procedure, and on and on, be treated with the same dignity and respect that I was receiving. It is truly the heart of what we want here. We will continue. And I will continue, but first I need a nap.