I woke up last Wednesday at 5:33 am, 12 minutes before my alarm. I didn't notice anything unusual until I went to pull my hair in a ponytail. I realized that my arm hurt way too much to have just pulled my hair up, but I didn't think much of it and headed to the pool. After I got to the pool I changed and showered. I realized while I was showering that my right arm REALLY hurt. As I walked to the pool deck I reached across my body to start the swimming app on my phone and realized my hand and arm were swollen and purple. I stopped one of my coworkers who is also the lifeguard and we discussed potential allergy related causes, but found nothing that made sense. I swam one lap and felt the pain all the way to my arm pit. I still swam (although not nearly as far as usual), but I stopped a bit early and showered. Then with my coworker advising me to call the emergency number for the clinic I did and made an 8 am appointment.
After taking my stuff to school and speaking to my principal (my workday begins at 8 am, but classes don't start until 9 am) I went over to the clinic. While I was waiting to be seen (they usually don't start seeing patients before 9 unless its urgent), the power went off. Thankfully the clinic had an emergency generator that kicked in (the power was only off for about 15 minutes so it was back on before I left). The doctor was concerned that I had a blood clot in my arm , but we don't have the imaging equipment for her to check. Additionally, there were no seats available on the commercial flights (I live in community that has no roads connecting it to anywhere else. In the summer there's a barge bringing vehicles and supplies, but otherwise everything pretty much come via air). Luckily I have medevac insurance. For $49 a year I got a membership with a medevac company. Then, if I need to be medevaced they will accept my insurance company's payment as payment in full with my having no out-of-pocket expenses. Best $50 I ever spent.I left the clinic around 9:15 am. I had given the doctor my cell phone number and she was going to call the medevac company and then let me know when they were arriving. I went back to school, filled in a few people (I had already called my principal and so he had gotten a sub). My principal drove me home and later arranged transportation of my four-wheeler home. I packed a bag and laid down. After a while, the doctor called and told me the plane was scheduled to land at 11:07. I called the school and left word so that my principal would pick me up. He picked me up a little after 10:30 for the 10 minute drive to the airport. We parked on the side of the apron and waited for the plane to arrive. Around the time the runway lights came on (which happens when the plane is, I believe, 5 miles out), the doctor arrived and parked beside us. The plane landed and drove onto the apron. The doctor then drove out to the plane and we followed. My principal carried my backpack and the three of us met two flight nurses on the ground outside the plane.
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Not the plane I flew in because I was too busy to think to take a picture, but a similar one.
There was also more snow on the ground than this picture shows.
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Taking off felt weird. I have flown a lot, but I've never faced backward nor been reclined during take-off. After we were airborne and the plane had warmed up, I took off my coat and they hooked me up to a blood pressure machine and a pulse ox. Unfortunately, my good side was against the window and so this made it a bit difficult, but we made it work. At some point something got messed up with the blood pressure cuff and it got a really low reading. As a result the next time it tightened up so much that it hurt. The results were still wonky so they switched to a cuff on my forearm.
A little less than an hour later after we landed, one of the nurses grabbed my bag and we walked into a garage with several vehicles. I climbed in the back of an ambulance with one of the nurses while the other one drove. She told me I could sit anywhere so I sat on the chair (NOT the stretcher) and she sat on the bench. After the ambulance warmed up (it is winter in Alaska after all), I took off my coat so that she could get my blood pressure. (By the way, if you didn't figure it out the ambulance ride was the second new experience).
We arrived at the emergency department of Fairbanks Memorial Hospital where they were expecting me. I walked in with both nurses and they told the staff who I was and why I was there. There was a room waiting for me. One nurse walked my backpack there while I signed paperwork authorizing the flight I had just taken (and the billing of my insurance company). They had to wait until I was hooked up and my vitals were taken before leaving.
It was determined that I don't have a blood clot and then I was discharged from the emergency room. A friend of mine picked me up and I stayed with her and her family through the weekend. I went to another doctor on Friday and have had many tests done. Everything looks good except for the pain, redness and swelling of my hand and arm (which have gone down greatly by this point).
On Sunday, I flew back to Galena (yes, I had to buy a plane ticket to get back home) and a friend of mine picked me up (along with the two totes of stuff I bought while I was in town) at the airport and drove me home. You might be interested to know that in Galena the person picking you up can wait in their car and see you get off the plane. Then you can get in the car and wait until the baggage comes out. It comes out on a cart that they push up to fence and then you pick up your belongings.
Galena is a small community and when you are medevaced word travels. On Monday, I returned to school and my students' reactions were quite interesting. All of them expressed they were glad I was back, but some of the said things like, "Oh you're back from the dead!" One student stood in my doorway (I don't have him this semester) and said, "Welcome back. I heard you almost died. I'm glad you're not dead" Seeing as I received no actual medical interventions I clearly did not almost die, but it was nice to have people express their concern (and the fact that they were glad I didn't die). However, the questions about what happened were so many (not just from students) that one student suggest I make a PowerPoint slide to show whenever someone asked me about it.
