Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) Support Group

Deep-vein thrombosis, also known as deep-venous thrombosis or DVT, is the formation of a blood clot ("thrombus") in a deep vein. It can be caused by something preventing blood from circulating or clotting normally. Join the support group if you are coping with DVT and find others who are going through the same challenges.

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libbylaz4 04/23/2013

Hi All,

A quick question. My husband has and has had some discolouration on his right ankle. I googled it and it looks like venous statis. Our GP told him it is superficial. It has not changed dramatically or gotten worse since his cardiac arrest. I know warfarin can cause bruising etc. It does look superficial but it must be related to poor circulation. It is just a little scary. I have him walking a lot more and we hope it will help. He is doing much better and May 17 marks one year. I cannot believe it. He has never had the test for clotting because he was too much at risk to go off warfarin to test. I will certainly have my children tested. I want them to know. Anyway, other than some palpitations since his cardioversion and and the normal recovery we are extremely grateful for his recovery and our DS family. Hope everybody out there is having a good day. Will try to post more often. He is going back to work Monday for his second contract. I am so proud of him and so grateful. For anyone reading that is suffering, time does help. My advice is easy does it and a day at a time in this arena! Take good care!!!! Beth

TossNTurn 04/23/2013

Ya know, I personally don't have any residual discoloration from my DVTs. However, my father-in-law has clotted several times (I think) and is a lifer on warfarin. The leg with his clots has got a kind of darker purplish color streaks running from the ankle up to mid-calf. It hasn't changed in the tenish years I've known him and, as far as I know, is the only visual indicator of his clot. Me, I've got residual swelling, but I know everyone is different with this kind of stuff.

deleted_user 04/23/2013

I do have some blue/black permanent marks on my DVT leg, but they are superficial, don't feel them, and they don't change. Not a big deal in the long run.

libbylaz4 04/24/2013

Thank you for the responses. In my husbands case he had zero warning. He just got submassive bi lateral pes and had. Cardiac arrest. The only thing that has been a little unsettling is that nobody said for sure that it was caused by a DVT. Most cases are and we know that he had that discolouration. We know he has deeper veins too because it almost impossible to even draw blood. Its highly likely the PEs were from a DVT in the leg. But it sure would be nice to know ( obviously we cant ask for much more) because the outcome has already been amazingly positive. Just a few little issues that still nag at me. Thanks

TossNTurn 04/24/2013

I know you'd like to know for sure what caused the PEs, but if there is no longer a DVT, you're not going to find a doctor anywhere that'll tell you that he had a DVT and it became a PE. I mean, how could they? There's no way to know and they aren't going to tell you something as fact when obviously they can't know for sure.

Has he ever had the leg scanned? It is possible that there is still residual clot there. Doesn't always happen like that, but sometimes.

It IS most likely that a DVT caused his PEs because it is very rare for clots to form in the lungs themselves. Usually, they had to travel from elsewhere in the body. The question then becomes what would have caused a DVT, assuming that he had one?

libbylaz4 04/24/2013

I agree with everything you said. He in fact ia going to have his leg scanned. All clots in the lungs are gone thank God. The thing is that he never had pain or redness or anything. Just boom! It all happened. The month actually shortly before he had been travelling extensively by train long trips several times a week so that might explain it. But thinking back, he had one contract in Germany for a year in 2010 and he was starting to breath very funny then like he would draw a huge deep chest full of air before he said hello on the phone. I know all thia stuff sounds like minutia but now that we are settling a little and are calmer we are just trying to connect a few dots! Again so grateful for the progress just aching for some more answers. You are right we may never really know.

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