He just faxed over my record yesterday minus the ultrasounds. So I'm still trying to get those and he isn't answering my emails anymore. He acted like this was no big deal which couldn't be further from the truth!

The information he sent over, was it of any use?

Did he actually do the ultrasounds at his office? If they were done at a different office by a different provider, you can just contact them directly to get copies. Like, if he sent you to the hospital for the ultrasound, you can contact the hospital to get copies of them.

Yeah, I had just stumbled upon Christianacare.org but I wonder if the are still doing that procedure? I was having pain behind my knee after Zumba yesterday and I went in for another ultrasound of my leg and some good news. Since the last ultrasound, which was on Friday, at both ends of the clot it is starting to very slowly dissolve. I had just prayed that I really needed to hear some good news! But she said the veins are damaged along with the Peroneal veins and it is impossible for them to reverse or heal. I told her I believe in God and don't put limits on his healing power!

Understand that most people who have DVTs have some degree of damage, and their legs function fine. Having pain after zumba at this stage in your recovery strikes me as no cause for concern and in fact, that you're able to do that kind of activity so soon after diagnosis is a good sign.

Yeah, but my doc told me it is too much for my leg right now and it won't heal if I keep pushing it. So now I am just going to walk a lot. Do you guys have any suggestions for exercises that can help strengthen the calf muscles?

I liked riding the bike.

There is no evidence that excercise makes the symptoms worse after DVT. Actually, excercise may actually improve symptoms, even though it is ruigorous. Avoid though all very streneous excerices and dehydration.

I think what most doctors would say is that you should be exercising but to take it slow so yeah, I agree that the zumba may be a bit much right now. I think I mentioned in another post I had a hard time doing zumba because there's a little more high impact than I think it can appear. Walking out doors (treadmill walking bothered me for some reason) and riding my bike, even the stationary bike, helped get my conditioning. I found with the bike it actually helped with my PTS symptoms which I started experiencing about 18 months after my DVT.

Sometimes you have to experiment with exercise at first to see what works for you.

Yikes, I am so scared of PTS. Which my doctor assured me I shouldn't get as long as I wear the compression stockings. Idk, I have to keep believing I'll be fine and the damage will somehow heal.

Just take it a day at a time. My PTS isn't as bad as some so it's totally manageable, more of an annoyance than anything else, but yeah, not everyone gets it.

You'll be ok.

Omg, my entire leg throbs today. Is this a normal part of the healing process? I am also noticing more veins coming up my leg.

You can definitely have increased pain/swelling at times, especially if you've been really active recently. Some folks also have issues when the weather start changing with the differences in air pressure.

The veins coming up your leg are probably a good thing, as it means that your body is developing some alternate pathways for blood (besides the blocked veins). I've got those as well.

Of course, if you feel like something has drastically shifted in terms of pain/swelling, you should check in with your doc.

Dear TossNTurn I have to disagree with your view that the reason the superficial veins are more obvious because of alternate pathways are created. In fact, the reason the superficial veins are more obvious is because there is more blood directed to the superficial veins. One reason could be that there is some blockage due to clotting and the blood is re-routed to those veins that are open, and of these are superficial veins, then these veins receive more blood. Im not saying that this is the case her. The creation of new blood vessels takes take and is mainly for deep veins, in very serious blockage and will thus not be noticed among superficial veins. [need to triple check this]
LissaB. If symptoms continue my advice is to go to a doctor to have this checked out. It may well be that some days are better than others, and you are having one of the days that symptoms are worse than others but however, if these symptoms last for some time then have this checked out.

Anytime pain is persistently different or more significant than previously, it's a good idea to check with your doc. I have superficial veins too post DVT that are not cause for concern but they can be. Like both Toss and Stefan said, sometimes checking with your doctor is the best recourse. Unfortunately, no one on this site can replace a physician's exam and expertise, although I can see why you may be reluctant to trust a doctor considering how you got here in the first place.

Call your doc, let him know what's going on.