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.

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Another pro-athlete with PEs

TossNTurn
TossNTurn
A hockey player for the Colorado Avs was diagnosed with bilateral PEs yesterday and will be out the rest of the season so he can take blood thinners. The doctor in the article is quoted as saying that it is not a career-ending problem, even though he also had a DVT during the 2009-2010 season.

Two clotting incidents for most of us means a lifetime on warfarin, so I'm curious how this will play out for a guy who probably gets injured a lot at his job. If he stays on thinners, he can't play but it he goes off, he risks getting more clots. Hopefully he won't do himself more damage in another year by throwing more clots ... just cause he went off the thinners so he could continue to play hockey.

The full article is here:

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_17153737
deleted_user
deleted_user
dang! One of the best players too, IMO (Canadian hockey fan here, lol) I just saw the article here and was going to post it!

http://sports.msn.com/en-us/nhl/article.aspx?aid=514708&acid=2&afid=&avid=66316

I always wondered what you would do, as an athlete, if you had to be on bloodthinners....some sports might be lower risk, but any contact sport, especially some of the hits those guys take....I don't know. Young guy too, only 26! Seems to be getting way more common with younger people.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I mentioned this in another post before I saw yours. Chances are they're going to be scanning this guy on a regular basis to assess his progress. In other words, more than you or I would be offered. But I suppose at the end of the day we're all in the same boat.
PhysicalPositivity
PhysicalPositivity
As an athlete myself, I was very motivated to get off of warfarin.

And I don't even play in contact sports, so I understand his desire. I hope the best for him.
Ferr
Ferr
I suppose it's all going to boil down to what exactly caused his clots. I know its difficult having to be on Warfarin as a lifer and knowing the risks. The choices are ultimately his, on weather to continue to play. I'm acquainted with a non-pro ice hockey player who is on Coumadin, he wears a lot of padding and yes he takes quite a bunch of hits. We talked recently about the affects of consistent severe bruising, and he is willing to take those risks, however with the extra padding he doesn't get as bad of bruises as he used to. No he isn't on the ice as much as a pro hockey player is but none the less he still takes risks, and the precautions. When I got to thinking about that I realized I take risks too. Maybe it's because we are both lifers that I understand why he does what he does. We cannot let the clots rule our lives, yes we take a few more precautions, but we carry on with life's everyday activities. Maybe being a lifer on Coumadin we become complacent, or we get to the point that we just aren't as afraid as when we were first diagnosed. Which ever it is I hope this young man uses his head and takes a step back and re-evaluates himself and his risks and chooses wisely.