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.
My first encounter with bi-lateral PE's was on 4/1/2012. Just a week ago on 4/30/19, I went via ambulance to the hospital not knowing the cause of my shortness of breath & racing heart. I was then Life Flighted to a 2nd hospital where they started treatment via EKOS & tPA to blast the large clots yet again from my lungs. I was released 3 days later and sent home on 10 mg of Eliquis 2x a day for 7 days. Then 5 mg 2x a day for infinity. Due to my heart struggling to get blood to my lungs, I now have an enlarged heart. What are the chances of my heart becoming strong again? Will I always have an enlarged heart. My heart rate elevates and I get overheated from normal walking around my house. Sometimes eating gives me slight chest pains and shortness of breath. My doctor explained that my stomach needs extra blood flow to assist in digestion, which means less blood is going to my weakened lungs and causing my temporary discomfort. Has anyone else experienced this?
And how soon is too soon to go back to work? My boss wants me back after only 1 week out of the hospital. But I still have chest pains and discomfort. I don't want to lose my job, but I don't want to lose my life either.
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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.
The chest pain and shortness of breath are not uncommon after diagnosis. I had that quite a bit the first few months after diagnosis. It improved greatly by the 6 month mark. I went back to work half days a week after I was out of the hospital and back full time the week after that. It’s physically taxing because you are still recovering but my doctor gave me the ok to go back so I felt that meant I wasn’t in danger. Just know it kind of takes it out of you. The thing is if you waited to go back to work until you had no discomfort or shortness of breath you may be waiting a while then. Ask your doc for his thoughts on going back.
My clots were a decade ago and I fully recovered. My heart and lungs function is just fine. The recovery is the challenging part, especially the mental and emotional recovery.
Good health to you!!
Hang in there; just take it a day at a time!