Hi all: I just got back from a three-day stay in the hospital. I had a clot in my left leg which travelled into both my lungs. (DVT and double pulmonary embolism for you medical savvy types.)This is no joke, and it was according to the doctors a near-fatal event. As you can guess I'm quite shaken by this and very tired, so I will be minimizing my online time for a while. I still have the clot in the leg,it is being treated by drugs and I get the joy of giving myself injections twice daily for the next week. With a bit of luck I am expected to fully recover although I'm still not out of danger yet.

I'm posting this as a reminder to all not to ignore your body's warning signs...in this case my leg was acting up for over a week(I thought I'd pulled a hamstring) and the clot actually hit me Saturday evening the 18th. I felt it on both sides but dismissed it as muscle spasms.

I'll update this as I get more info from the doctors...take care all. Don't let this happen to you.

Get well soon, Tony and take it easy.

regards

Alan

Jeezus Tony I'm glad you caught that in time.... take care my friend, I hope you recover quickly

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Tony, hope you get well soon.

Roger

Tony ... a friend of mine had a similar occurrence, and I think you're being a bit optimistic.

Sure, you'll recover, and be up to speed in no time. Just be prepared to be on blood thinners and testing, at varying intervals, for the next year.

Be wary of the side-effects of the thinners. You will bruise much more easily, and cuts will bleed more. You can forget about taking aspirin, advil, or naproxin.

Tony stay optimistic.

I am sorry to here you had that problem, good to know you ended up getting it taken care of.

Good luck with a speedy recovery.

Bob

Tony,
You are in my prayers for a complete and speedy recovery! Please also dig deep into potential food interactions with any thinners they put you on.
Take care,
Joe

Get well soon, Tony!

Hi everyone:

Thank you all for your replies and the good news is that I am getting better every day. My first follow-up showed no damage to my lungs, and that the clot in my leg is dissolving as expected. I'm waiting for my labs to determine if I have to continue the injections, I am on the pill thinners for at least the next two months though.

After talking with my doctor, she feels that the cause appears to be my hereditary factors more than diet or other causes. Only time and testing will tell for sure.

I am regaining energy and overall feeling better!!

Cheers!!

Tony that is great news.

Thanks for the update.

Tony,

That's super!!
I hope the rest of your recovery comes quickly.

Tony:
Good to see you're OK
I've been on blood thinners for 6 years now, (along with other meds) with no end in sight. Basically, not the clot thing, but irregular rapid heartbeat. REally scared me when Doc said...'you need a hospital..NOW' when I was in his office for a reg check-up.

The pills are not a bad thing.

Take care

I hope you feel better soon!

A quick update and I think we can put this thread to bed, lol.

My leg has finally stopped hurting, and it seems that the clot has mostly gone away. I will be seeing a specialist at the end of the month to see if they can figure out exactly what triggered this mess.

Meantime I'm back to work, although on "light duty", and things are going well.

I again thank all who posted and read this thread, even though I have never met you all in person it was comforting to know that you guys cared!!

Tony

good for you Tony . glad everything is getting better

First off I just want to say I am glad your ok!

You are certailly right about not ignoring the signs.
Last Dec. I lost a good friend who just happened to be my brother in law as well. (Also an electrician) His leg had been bothing him quite a bit. He did see a Doc but was told he most likely strained himself at work.
A couple of weeks later he was gone due to a clot.

Apparently if an ultrasound had been done on his leg there is a good chance he would still be around today.

Hey man, just now seen this thread and also wanted to wish you the best from here on out. Glad to see that you are getting better.

Be safe and thanks for the advice, take it easy!

Bigrockk, sorry to hear of your loss. It is indeed unfortunate and even the doctors sometimes miss the call.

My leg pain started out exactly like a strain or pulled muscle, not surprising as I'd done my first ride on the mx bike three days prior. But the odd part, and now I know how serious it was, was that the pain would come and go and change in intensity at times. That is a sure sign it's NOT a muscle strain. So now I know better.

To add to my advice from the first post: If the pain comes and goes, there is swelling with no sign of bruising, if any area of you leg, arm or whatever feels hotter than the other, or there is an obvious enlargement of a vein, get to a doctor or ER right away and insist on an ultrasound!! In my case, had I done that on the 14th, I possibly would have avoided the whole hospital incident.

The signs of a clot traveling to your lungs/heart include: Shortness of breath, heart palpitations (irregular beat), a sensation of momentary, abrupt loss of breath (like when you get hit in the chest and have the wind knocked out of you) which may be on one side or both....anything out of the ordinary needs to be looked at.

Your family history plays into it as well, my mother has some serious factors that I may also have. I'll see the blood specialist on the 28th, hopefully he can figure out what started this and how long I'll have to stay on the meds.

Thanks again for all the kind words everbody!! I still get tired easily and even though my leg no longer bothers me I fear that the lung clots are not gone yet.

An update to this, since I had updated my bike thread and kinda forgot about this one.

I was taken off the blood thinners a few days ago, my last ultrasound showed no real clots left in either leg (there is some "thread-like" tissues in my left leg vein which is supposedly not harmful) and the CAT scan showed both lungs to be clear.

I'm glad to be off the thinners, as they do have side effects (fatigue, muscle aches, etc.) but I am a bit nervous at the same time. I will need to be careful to watch for any other signs of clots or other problems.

My doctor has me on the "aspirin regimen" as a precaution.

Thanks again to everyone here who has shared their concern.

Glad to hear things are back to normal, mx. I had the same thing as you did (deep vein thrombosis in left leg which travelled to my right lung) back in June of 2008. Man, that was painful!

I had a CT scan done in Dec and the clot is dissolved, so I'm off the Warfarin now too....and nervous, just like you.

Good luck!

Thanks sixer..here's hoping both of us get over this fast..I do feel somewhat better overall, but every time my leg twitches I get scared.. doc said that will happen.

I have noticed that my blood pressure has also come back down since the warfarin was stopped. At least one good sign..

I'm on the "aspirin regimen" to help keep my risk down.

Well folks, sad to have to post this, but I just got back from a full week in the hospital.

The clots in my leg and lungs returned with a vengance and I had to go back on warfarin.

It took a full week on heparin at the hospital to bring my INR (A measure of clotting) back into a safe range, as my body had evidently developed antibodies to the warfarin.

The good news from this time around is that not only did I not have any clots travel this time, but an echocardiogram revealed that my heart is 100% healthy.

I will have to continue warfarin for the rest of my life, and I'll have to learn to just deal with the side effects, which are minor compared to the alternative.

So pay attention to your health folks, and please see my post on page one with signs of possible clots and get yourself checked out if you have any symptoms!! If caught early, in some cases no hospitalization (or only a day or two) is needed to start treatment.

chin up mxslick, and if you've the time, take it to educate yourself to your dilema. the best advocate for you is you within our health care system as it stands today

~S~

Wanted to again say thanks to everyone here for all your kind words and thoughts and also give a bit of an update.

The clot situation is under control, but this past October I was having chest pains and tightness, docs found an irregular EKG reading and sent me to the ER (by ambulance, wouldn't let me drive there.) Of course by the time I got to the ER the EKG had become "normal" again. A regular treadmill test found the irregularity under stress, but it went away at rest. They then did the nuclear stress tests (treadmill and at-rest using a radioactive tracer and scan with flouroscope) which found no blockages or other issues with my heart. They now think that the EKG is a congenital defect that was found only because I am under such close attention, but I am now also on the "aspirin regimen" and carry nitroglycerine as precautions.

A lot of the issues seem to stem from stress and anxiety caused by the initial round of clotting as I had never even needed to see a doctor for anything in the prior 15 years or so.

I am trying to take things with less stress and try to move on.

I haven't ridden my bike in well over a year for various reasons...even my doctor says she wants me to get out and ride.

mx
Sounds like you have it under control, and we sure hope so. Prayers sent buddy. Take care and don't in the words of the Eagles "Take it to the limit" the first time out.

Mx:
Sounds like the situation is controlled! Been there, done that, and still taking meds every day!

Stress is def not a 'helper' that you need.

Take care & stay safe

sure do, take off a sunny afternoon and take a long ride MX, the world can just plain wait.....~S~

Another update for y'all:

After not riding for a bit over two years, my doctor finally ordered me to go out and ride before I killed myself from stress! (This was at a checkup appt. on Jan. 20th.)

So on Jan 28th, for my 48th b-day, I hit the track for a day of riding which has been a huge help. I have since ridden several times and feel quite a bit better. I am trying to ride at least weekly when work, money and weather permit it.

I still need to lose about 10-12 lbs as I have gained weight in all the off time.

My leg still acts up, especially with weather changes and I had a minor get-off on one ride and bruised it pretty good.

Yet again I want to thank everyone for all the kind words over the years!! Hard to believe it's coming on 4 years since my first episode.

Tony,
It's nice to hear that you're able to get back into a sport that you love so much! I'm hoping to check out a dropzone about 60 miles away in WI. tomorrow. I need to lose a whole lot more #s than you do though.
Joe