The Incident: Part 1

I'm a single mom to an active 14 year old girl. It can be stressful at times, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. She talked me into getting 3 pets. Two of them are cats and one is a dog. Needless to say, I can't really afford them or keep up with them. But, I do my best. I want to be that normal mom and I want her to have a better life than I had.

Suddenly my hand couldn't move

One of our indoor cats loves to sneak out but freaks out when he does. He will be gone for days and we find him next to the house. On October 25th, 6 days before my 40th birthday, I heard him crying from somewhere. I searched the entire house and finally found him outside. He was curled up and such a scared mess.

I called him and patted the ground on my knees but he wouldn't come to me. So, I walked over and picked him up and brought him in. I was feeling fine, getting ready to take the dog for a walk. I noticed the dog jumped on the couch and knocked over a pillow. Bending down, I didn't look as I was picking up the pillow. Suddenly, my right hand was so cold and I couldn't feel it.

I stood up straight and looked at my hand. It was somewhat curled in and using all my might, I tried to open it to pick up that pillow. My fingers and hand didn't move. I began shaking my hand. I had been up for hours but was thinking maybe it went to sleep. It wouldn't start tingling and no feeling returned after several minutes.

Quickly calling 911

With my history of pulmonary embolisms, I decided it would be in my best interest to call an ambulance. It was so strange trying to swipe up on my iPhone, I couldn't feel it. I kept swiping but the phone wasn't recognizing my hand. I didn't even think to put the phone down and use my left hand. When something like this happens, you panic. What is going on?

Suddenly, I realized I still had Siri. I used my left and pushed the button in and told Siri to call 911. Thank you, Siri! I didn't need facial recognition or anything. I stayed on the phone and described my symptoms to the 911 operator. Luckily, we have a fire department at the end of our street.

The paramedics arrived

I put my dog up and stood outside waiting for the paramedics. I looked perfectly healthy but knew something was seriously wrong. As I stood on my porch, I waived the paramedics to my house since they stopped at the wrong house.

The first paramedic came in and immediately asked, "Where is he?". I was so confused. I said, "It's me, I called". He sat me down on the couch and began taking my vitals. Shortly after he entered, 3 more paramedics arrived. At this point in time, I still had no feeling in my hand and my arm began to lose feeling.

Deciding to go to the hospital

I didn't want to go to the hospital. All of my vitals were good. Then, the paramedics left it up to me whether I wanted to go or not. I knew I couldn't drive, as my foot was going numb. I kept asking them if it would stop. The paramedics couldn't tell me. I went to reach for my phone when they asked who I was calling. I told them I was calling my oncologist. At this point, the lead paramedic said, "He's going to tell you to go to the hospital".

So, I walked with them to the ambulance and got in. Little did I know, this was going to be another bump in the road. A big one.

Read the continuation of Samantha's story in The Incident: Part 2.