Thank you for such a great post. I am sure it will be be so helpful for many to hear.

It is so difficult to see that far ahead when you are feeling so bad in the first few months. I am nearly 7 months after mine and although getting better slowly still have down days where I need help to see things positively.

Many thanks for thinking of us and taking time to post

Kate

It has been 14 months since my PE's also, and looking back, I can definitely say I feel much stronger and better. There are some days every now and then that remind me of what I went through. My legs might be achy or I may feel some pressure in my chest area, but I know those are just signs that I was trying to be Superwoman and need to slow down a little, hydrate a lot and get to bed a little earlier. I have also flown and like the previous post, got up and walked up and down the aisle or to the restroom every 45 minutes to an hour and there were no problems.

Thanks so much for your posts! We need more like this! I'm just four months out and while I do have my down days and times when I freak out ... I look back on where I was when I first got out of the hospital unable to sneeze (at all) and unable to laugh without pain ... and I thank the stars for where I am now. My PE is still on my mind throughout the day every day, but at least now I can go 3-4 hours not thinking about it if I am focused on something else.

Four months of coumadin (almost) completed, eight more to go! One-third finished!! Hurrah!

It is a great post. I am 14 months on from my PE too and it DOES get easier. Still suffer from anxiety, whereas I never used to but the experience has slipped a little further back in my mind. Will NEVER forget and have got used to the rest of my life on Warfarin. Don't know about the rest of you but i am so so thankful for my wonderful husband and 3 year old and 15 month old cheeky boys. We are survivors!!! Love to you all x

Yeah, that's kind of why I stick around this site myself, to hopefully offer something to folks who are just going through this experience and to hear folks comment on their lives, regardless if they are still on warfarin or not, after they've recovered.

It's been almost 13 months since my PE/DVT. It really does get better and you just need to look back every so often to see how far you've come, even if it doesn't always feel like you're making progress.

I still have my days, but most of them are related to something emotional or mental that I need to get in check.

That is great to hear...I am nearly 5 months away from my PE diagnosis....things are slowly improving, but still days or weeks that are tough. Are you still taking warfarin (or how long did you take it)? If not, do you take any vitamins, aspirin, or other supplements to help keep your blood thin?

I am coming up on my 1 year anniversary -well, actually, the clot would have lready happened, and I will have been blown off as it all being in my head, the "D" day isn't until Oct. 10. I have more good days than bad. Still have upper chest muscle and middle back pain almos constantly -left over from PE or Fibro? -don't know. I don't know that I will ever know that life again. I am a Coumadin lifer - I am looing at a different sort of life -as there is a lesson to be learned from everything -everyng happens for a reason -my goal is Patience and slowing down for now, and still getting done what I need done.

Thank you all - I am only 2 months since and back to work full time but have days when I just want to close my door and cry...but I am stronger than that...someone said it...have to stop being superwomen...even though people still expect it...thought I was good at saying NO but I need to get a whole lot better at it.
Thansk for letting us know there is a life after all of this...I know it...it is reassuring to hear it ...thank you

Someone asked if I'm still on Coumadin. I am not; I was on it for 6 mos and then as I approached coming off it, I got super anxious and went through a couple of months of high anxiety. And clearly that anxiety still exists given my recent request for a CT Scan. But these episodes are much further apart than the hourly and daily ones that I had in the first few mos post diagnosis.

I consulted with both a vascular doc and a hematologist on if I should be a lifer or not. I do have the Prothrombin 20210 factor - neither said I had to be on it for life. I'm an avid soccer player and I think they emphasized with me and thus have advised me on everything I need to do to avoid a clot in the future - hence the stockings when I fly + lovenox, I do try and pop an aspirin every morning (my Rx, not my doc's), I drink a heck of a lot more fluids, I came off the BCP and just have a heightened awareness of my situation (no more leg crossing - which is a hard habit to break)

But I can go for days or even weeks w/o too much thought around how scary my experience was - instead, I've got a condition that I'm aware of and know what I need to do. I've slowed down at work - I had one co-worker comment that most people don't realize that life is not all about your job until they're in their late 40's or 50's. Life is more valuable than working hard at your job - that's probably one of the best things I've learned out of such a scary experience.

THANKS greenstar! Just what I needed to hear this week. I'm four months out from my PE and know that my body has gone thru a lot of healing, but I'm still struggling with higher than normal resting heart rate (it's lower now and the cardiologist is ok with my numbers), I still get exhausted really easy especially with the Arizona heat, continued discomfort and pain in my left lung by the end of the day and still nauseous from the meds for my anemia. Of course, I'm also frustrated that I can't go back to work yet.

Thank you to everyone for hanging out on the board and keeping me (all of us) encouraged! You all have been a true blessing in this journey of life and it gives me lots of hope for the future. I need to go back and look at my first posts to remember how bad I felt the first month. I don't think I even got out of the house other than to go for my INR checks and I hung out in my bedroom in the recovery mode partly out of fear, anxiety and mostly from pain and exhaustion. Thanks!!

Thankyou!!! So helpful to hear all the replies and shares. I'm nearing 7 months post PE now, and wonder when I can climb stairs again (muscles weak), when I can work again and when I can expect some normal life routines to return. I walk some, stretch, and rest a lot, still. I'm off blood thinners and still have a reversable filter in. I still feel anxiety often.....but slowly trying to reclaim my life. Hugs, clairejean

It i so comforting to finally hear from someone who is so far along in recovery!!! I am a week away from my 4 mo mark. I had a bi-latteral PE on June 10th 08 and still suffering more mentally than physcially. I just dont feel like myself and I dont know if I Should be blaming coumadin or excepting that my body has been through a traumatic event.I had just turned 21 in March of this year and than this hit me like a tidal wave! I've become so anxious, health obsessed, and sometimes hopeless.

Ugh - Sorry about the venting!!!

But I just wanted to let you know I really appreciate your support, it is beyond helpful to actually know somebody who has had a PE say its going to be ok, rather than dr. and family members who might not understand what we are going through.

Please keep in-touch I think we all need the encouragement.

iT IS soooo good to hear your healing stories...thank you!!!

iT IS soooo good to hear your healing stories...thank you!!!

It is great to hear people's recovery stories!

This is such a positive group! I am 7 months post PE and started feeling normal at 6 months. Although my energy, strength and fitness are still building very slowly, I do quite well until the day after doing heaps... I need a rest!

I find it great to keep an eye on the support group to continue the process of mental and emotional healing - I didn't really admit how serious an event the PE was until a few weeks ago!!