What is Pulmonary Embolism
By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation an...
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Could this be PE?
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Hello, I'm waiting for the doctor's office to open and hope you don't mind me asking this here.
My wife had surgery 10 months ago, it was a long operation of 6 hours. She felt back pain about when she came home (which is when she got off the IV pain medication), and it still hurts. The pain is in the same place, sort of near the bottom of her rib cage on the left side. She has always said it felt like back pain, which seemed reasonable given the recovery from surgery and change in her activity levels, but in reading about PE it has me thinking it could possibly explain things much better. The pain has been extreme at times, and isn't acting like muscle pain. She has been feeling very tired, which we chalked up to recovery, her radiation treatment and such. She has brought up the back pain in each of her follow-ups but it's never prompted much attention by her doctors. Could PE sit and linger for so long? Posted on 10/26/09, 07:10 am |
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Have you considered getting a second opinion? I can't say whether or not her pain could be a PE, but having a PE has taught me one thing. If I have a doctor who ignores my concerns, it's time to get a different doctor or, at the very least, a second opinion. 
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If your wife is having radiation therapy, I am assuming she has cancer. That is a huge risk factor for pulmonary embolism.
It is definitely worth checking out. Many people who are treated for PE still feel the pain after months, so I can imagine if you are not treated that it can linger on. The possibility is certainly there, and it sounds like at the very least the doctors have not addressed the cause of her pain adequately.
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I replied yesterday, and my reply was deleted.......
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I have no idea, my pain started and within 24 hours it was severe enough to make me go to the ER.
But yeah, cancer is a risk factor, so it's worth checking out. PEs can be screened with a simple D Dimer blood test (followed by a confirmatory CT Scan if positive)
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