Wellness really does work…

Ok, in my previous post I mentioned a recent personal experience that I promised to tell you about later.
The pregnancy and delivery of my youngest son was quite the adventure for me and my family.

I wrote up a piece that was posted on our intranet at work to share with our employees (my clients) as inspiration and motivation to live a healthy lifestyle.  Also as a reminder of how fragile life is and to enjoy it!
I will share that same story with you.

“Wellness really does work,” said Lori Thomas, wellness coordinator. Read Lori’s story below to find out how staying healthy helped save her life after her fourth child, Liam, was born.

We hear it all the time and you hear me preaching it to you all the time, but I experienced first-hand that wellness really does work. Not only does it work… it helped save my life.

When pregnant with my fourth child, we ran into some complications. I had placenta previa complete, which in laymen’s terms means the placenta was completely blocking the cervix. With this condition comes a high risk of bleeding and that is exactly what I did. So, I was placed on bed rest on Sept. 9. My due date was Nov. 10, but making it that long with the previa was unlikely and I would have to have a C-section delivery. Thanks to bed rest, I was able to avoid going into labor and scheduled the C-section delivery for Oct. 18, which is when my doctors determined was late enough that the baby would be developed properly, but also early enough that we could avoid a major bleed from the previa (from the pressure of the baby pressing against the placenta).

Oct. 18 came around and we were scheduled for a 12 p.m. C-section delivery. At 12:24 p.m., our son Liam Jackson Thomas was born, weighing in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 19.5 inches long. He was beautiful, healthy and perfect!
The surgery went better than expected and I was closed up and headed to recovery.  My blood pressure was running a little low so they kept me in recovery for longer than normal.

Around 4 p.m., my blood pressure started dropping even lower than it was and I began to show physical symptoms indicating a problem. My nurse sent our son to the nursery (on a different floor) so she could focus all of her attention on me. Soon, I had a room full of nurses and doctors who stayed there for more than two hours trying to determine not only why my blood pressure was dropping the way it was, but also why their efforts to increase it were not working. My blood pressure reached as low as 50s over 40s. All signs pointed to an internal bleed, but the numerous ultrasounds they were doing failed to show any bleeding.

Around 6:30 p.m., they finally found a pooling of blood in my right side towards my back; however, the source of the bleed was yet to be determined. I was told I would have to go back to the operating room for emergency surgery.

Just before they took me to the operating room, my doctor was sitting by my bedside holding my hand. I asked her if I was going to be ok and, looking at her expression and the uncertainty in her eyes, I knew things were very serious. I told her she had to make sure I made it through this as I could not leave my husband to care for our four children on his own… especially only three weeks after his father passed away. She assured me she would do everything she could and then she prayed aloud right there over me.
Then it was off to the operating room.

After spending approximately one and a half hours in surgery, the nurses informed my family that I was out of surgery and recovering. They found the bleed and fixed it – an internal stitch had worked loose just enough that it created a slow bleed. I was taken to the Intensive Care Unit where I spent 24 hours there recovering and stabilizing. I received five units of blood and two units of platelets during this entire ordeal and I can’t say thank you enough to the many donors out there that helped save my life by donating blood and platelets.

My perinatologist and OB/GYN doctors were with me through both surgeries and checked in on me daily during my recovery (even on their days off). They both said the fact that I was healthy prior to all of this happening is one of the main factors for me being here today and able to recover as well and as quickly as I did. With my blood pressure dropping as low as it did, it is incredible that I maintained consciousness and my doctors and family were amazed that even during that ordeal, I was still cracking jokes and had a smile on my face!  Things were very scary and grave for a bit.

I don’t always eat the healthiest foods, and I don’t always exercise as much as I should, but I maintain an overall healthy lifestyle and do things in moderation. That is what helped me still be here today.

If you want to start working on your health and don’t know where to start or are feeling overwhelmed, come talk to me. I am happy to hear your story, and I want to help. Just remember to start slow and don’t think you are going to change drastically overnight. Slow and steady wins the race and I am happy to coach you every step of the way.

Wishing you all good health and happiness,

Lori Thomas
Wellness Coordinator

Now that I have shared my experience with you, please use it as a reminder to live life to the fullest, find your happiness and live an overall healthy lifestyle so that you can be around for a very long time to enjoy all the little things in life!

Make today fantastic!  🙂