Pulmonary Embolism Support Group
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 and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.
Ok I have been reading several posts on DS today and noticed we have several newbies posting right now. Welcome to our weird little roller coaster ride from Hell, yes it is an emotional roller coaster (normal), lots of us even those of us who had PE's years ago suffer from anxiety and need counselling or medication (normal), some of us are in denial (not normal but I'm in denial anyway). Some of us have developed other health care issues after having the PE's (normal), most of us old timers have gotten on with our lives (normal). We have kind of adopted the mantra not when are we going to be back to normal but when are we gonna let ourselves be normal again. Our diets are now foremost in our minds (normal) and we have totally cut vitamin K out of the diet (not normal) the experts recommend you continue your normal eating habits and adjust your Coumadin to your diet. Each one of us has taken different amounts of time to heal (normal) I think it all depends on the severity of the clotting event and our bodies ability to heal itself. Does it take time? Of course it does. Do other people make you feel like a total ass because your still hung up on the fact you could have died? Of course they do. Will they ever understand? Hell no they wont understand they haven't been through it. Do the Doctors whom you trust your life in their hands understand? Well some of them do and sometimes we have to give them a swift kick in the ass to make them pay attention. One of the things you will hear a lot of from the old timers on this blog is you have to be your own best advocate. So right now stop taking a back seat in your health care and move to the front of the line. Not just about your PE's or DVT's but about your health care period. Many of us have had several other medical problems after PE's and we found out the hard way that the squeaky wheel gets the most grease, In sorts we kind of paved the way for some of you, please learn from our lessons. We have finally stood up and said enough is enough, I want some answers and I want them now. I myself have had several surgeries after my first PE episode and have learned how to bridge off Coumadin and back again. I have learned when to back off too. I have learned how to know when I feel as if I have had another PE just by the way I feel. Your going to hear several of us mention that "feeling of dread" that does accompany the PE or DVT, listen to your body and your instincts. OK I'm gonna stop here as I know my good friends like RMB and TnT will also add some great advice. Best of luck to you newbies and remember Rome wasn't built in a day, your INR isn't gonna change in a day and yes you can have a normal life. And don't every feel alone as long as you have friends here on DS and don't be afraid to ask questions. knowledge is power!
Hugs
ferr
Hugs
ferr
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Look at what my best friend did with my picture!
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We all have 24 hours in a day. How we spend these hours is important. Watching a little bit of a video about how sitting affects us made me aware of how much sitting and laying down I do. Gonna have to work on that.Your turn. Tell me another truth.
Seriously - life does get better so just be kind to yourselves while you're healing and you have to learn to be be patient!! Love Sandi xx
The only thing I might add is don't be afraid to be a "bad" patient. Question your docs, ask for answers, find new docs if you don't trust the ones you have. Having a doc you trust makes all the differenc in recovery.
It does get better, even if slowly for some of us. Patience isn't my strong suit but I'm learning.........
There is great comfort in knowing others have gone through this and are doing well and take the time to help and give advice to others. A great big THANK YOU from me!...and you too rmb, you always put a smile on my face and I have looked forward to your comments and advice throughout my recovery :)
hugs
ferr
What a flippin finiky drug this stuff is. I'm gonna print your writing if I can to remind me of all the good stuff you wrote so then I won't feel so damn alone and frustrated. and yes I still get chest and rib pain and freak. Then I think do I walk or don't I walk gee what if I have another clot and it cuts loose. Your right no one understands. well thanks again Tracie4 weeks post PEs still not stable Hey what did someone say about rat poison, is that what we are taking??
Ferr
The thing is that yes, this is a very traumatic event, and it could have killed us. But it didn't, and so for the people in our lives, we are still here, and so life just goes on for them. I think that's human nature. For us, we have to really work through the mortality aspect, coming to terms with it, going through almost a grieving process, etc. But that's on us. Do you know what I mean?. No one can do that for us, except for US. We cannot control what others think, feel, say, or don't say, but we can control how we respond, how we choose to live going forward, how we deal with the wreckage etc.
So, for me, I have always felt like everything starts with me, how I feel about this event, how I see myself, how I navigate through the darkness, do I see myself as a victim, do I want to see myself as strong, as a fighter, do I need some therapy to sort it out, etc. No one can really do any of that for you. It becomes a personal journey, one you kind of gotta go on by yourself, for yourself.
The only way out of it is to go through it.