Greatest fears

They never did an ultrasound of the clot in his leg. 

If they had, they would've confidently made the diagnosis of a pulmonary embolism (a small one, thank God).  They would've seen that the once stable clot they had examined a few weeks ago was no longer stable and in danger of going to his lungs.  But they didn't.

My husband and I returned home and discussed the doctors' conclusions or lack thereof.  We both felt he'd had a pulmonary embolism.  It was the only thing that made sense of all of his symptoms.  Within a few hours of moving around, Mr Jaguar began complaining that his chest felt just slightly tight.  Not as bad as before but still there.

By the grace of God, my husband had a previously scheduled appointment with his hematologist two days later.  The doctor was quite unimpressed and frankly, pretty pissed, that the hospital hadn't taken my husband's high risk factors for a pulmonary embolism seriously and he was shocked that they hadn't gotten another look at the clot in his leg.  He ordered the ultrasound.  

My husband got the ultrasound Friday morning.  As he left the imaging center, his phone rang.  His doctor on the other end shared the findings.  The clot was unstable.  He was now certain Mr Jaguar had had a pulmonary embolism and he was in danger of having another one that could be fatal this time.  My husband would need an inferior vena cava filter installed as soon as possible to prevent this.  The doctor would call the hospital and try to get it set up for that afternoon.

My husband pulled over to the side of the road and cried, his only thought was what if he didn't get to see Ben grow up?