FoxersArtist
02-28-2010, 01:04 AM
I am happy to say that after a long week of being hooked to an IV and unsucessfully scambling to find food to eat that would not poison me, the hospital let me go home late on Friday. Before I went, I expressed some concern over a blood clot that had formed where one of my IVs was - several inches of vien was hard to the touch. I told my Dr. that I had a history of blood clotting and had multiple cases in the past that required aggressive treatment (Heparin & Anti-Thrombin III). They told me to put a warm compress on the area when I got home and that it would be fine but I felt really uneasy about that suggestion and begged to have a doppler (vascular ultrasound) done before they let me go home. They reluctantly agreed but warned that IV clots do not usually warrant any treatment.
Unfortunately, when I clot even a little, my body tends to turn into a poorly played game of Tetris within a short period of time. The doppler confirmed my fears. The clot went from my elbow all the way up my arm to my shoulder. Sure, the problem was only in a superficial vein for now but it was quickly inching it's way toward a major artery and was already rather sizable in my opinion. Recent medical studies have indicated that clots in the upper parts of the body are now proving to become a danger (pulminary embolism) anywhere between 5% and 44% depending on the location of the clot, whereas older studies only considered the risk to be around 1%. Unfortunately a lot of Drs. still seem to believe that the risk is increbibly low and I happened to have one of those Drs. upon discharge. If anyone is going to be that 5%, it is bound to be me with the luck I have had lately with life. I huffed at him that since he wouldn't give me any kind of treatment plan for my situation that I would put myself back on aspirin, which I promptly did when I got home.
Despite taking a regular strength aspirin, the clot continued to build overnight and by morning I could no longer bend my elbow all the way - the clot was spreading toward my hand. I groaned at the idea of going back to any medical institution but decided to try my luck at urgent care before going back to the ER. Even after irrupting into tears over my situation, they sent me to the ER where I spent the remaining hours of the day waiting with other sick people. When I got in, I felt incredibly blessed to have a Dr. who did not shrug my situation off right away. He explained that he felt I needed medical treatment but that insurance would not cover my care unless we documented that the clot was actually getting worse. Another doppler was done which confirmed my observations and they also found a few other clots in the my other arm. Basically anywhere I had scar tissue, a blood draw, or an IV, there were clots building. I began to worry about what my legs must look like because I have lots of scar tissue there from a massive previous deep vien clot in my left leg. Thankfully the growth of the clot within the last 24 hours while on an adult aspirin was enough proof that I needed blood thinners and that was a huge relief to me. I am sad that it took so much effort for my needs to be recognized and treated, but extremely grateful to have a chance to get the situation under control before it gets worse, like my last experience with a major clot which left me hospitalized for over a month.
Getting dehydrated from the flu caused my blood to become too thick and it looks like my body just went on a clotting spree. The last time I got so sick from a stomach bug my blood went the opposite direction after fluids and turned into soup (INR <12.0) and I was admitted until they were sure I was at low risk for bleeding out. When I was admitted for dehydration, I warned the Drs. that my blood does strange things when I get so sick with the flu and that it could build clots or become terribly thin. I asked for specific testing that would monitor clotting activity but they didn't monitor for any potential problems during my stay. I'm going to go back to the sonography place next week to have a doppler of my legs as my vascular system has lots of previous scarring from old clots. If they find a deep vien thrombosis there, they may admit me back to the hospital to put me on an IV drip next week. Please, please pray that all is a-okay because I have really missed being at home with my family and flock. I came home tonight and got lots of loving from the flock of macaws hanging out in my kitchen who gave me hugs and kisses and lots of hair-preening. Nothing in the world could have warmed my heart more at that moment...expect maybe the presence of a sweet little munchkin clinging to my leg, telling me that he missed his mommy today.
-Anna
Unfortunately, when I clot even a little, my body tends to turn into a poorly played game of Tetris within a short period of time. The doppler confirmed my fears. The clot went from my elbow all the way up my arm to my shoulder. Sure, the problem was only in a superficial vein for now but it was quickly inching it's way toward a major artery and was already rather sizable in my opinion. Recent medical studies have indicated that clots in the upper parts of the body are now proving to become a danger (pulminary embolism) anywhere between 5% and 44% depending on the location of the clot, whereas older studies only considered the risk to be around 1%. Unfortunately a lot of Drs. still seem to believe that the risk is increbibly low and I happened to have one of those Drs. upon discharge. If anyone is going to be that 5%, it is bound to be me with the luck I have had lately with life. I huffed at him that since he wouldn't give me any kind of treatment plan for my situation that I would put myself back on aspirin, which I promptly did when I got home.
Despite taking a regular strength aspirin, the clot continued to build overnight and by morning I could no longer bend my elbow all the way - the clot was spreading toward my hand. I groaned at the idea of going back to any medical institution but decided to try my luck at urgent care before going back to the ER. Even after irrupting into tears over my situation, they sent me to the ER where I spent the remaining hours of the day waiting with other sick people. When I got in, I felt incredibly blessed to have a Dr. who did not shrug my situation off right away. He explained that he felt I needed medical treatment but that insurance would not cover my care unless we documented that the clot was actually getting worse. Another doppler was done which confirmed my observations and they also found a few other clots in the my other arm. Basically anywhere I had scar tissue, a blood draw, or an IV, there were clots building. I began to worry about what my legs must look like because I have lots of scar tissue there from a massive previous deep vien clot in my left leg. Thankfully the growth of the clot within the last 24 hours while on an adult aspirin was enough proof that I needed blood thinners and that was a huge relief to me. I am sad that it took so much effort for my needs to be recognized and treated, but extremely grateful to have a chance to get the situation under control before it gets worse, like my last experience with a major clot which left me hospitalized for over a month.
Getting dehydrated from the flu caused my blood to become too thick and it looks like my body just went on a clotting spree. The last time I got so sick from a stomach bug my blood went the opposite direction after fluids and turned into soup (INR <12.0) and I was admitted until they were sure I was at low risk for bleeding out. When I was admitted for dehydration, I warned the Drs. that my blood does strange things when I get so sick with the flu and that it could build clots or become terribly thin. I asked for specific testing that would monitor clotting activity but they didn't monitor for any potential problems during my stay. I'm going to go back to the sonography place next week to have a doppler of my legs as my vascular system has lots of previous scarring from old clots. If they find a deep vien thrombosis there, they may admit me back to the hospital to put me on an IV drip next week. Please, please pray that all is a-okay because I have really missed being at home with my family and flock. I came home tonight and got lots of loving from the flock of macaws hanging out in my kitchen who gave me hugs and kisses and lots of hair-preening. Nothing in the world could have warmed my heart more at that moment...expect maybe the presence of a sweet little munchkin clinging to my leg, telling me that he missed his mommy today.
-Anna