I know there was one lady on here who had her PEs dissolve after about two years.

Me personally, I had a DVT that was chronic. It dissolved finally somewhere between five and nine years out.

I feel like it might be a little early to truly diagnose your PEs as chronic. Your body has possibly been making them for a while, but you've only very recently started treatment, so its hard to say right now if they're going to go away or not. Your body hasn't had a chance to try to dissolve them when they AREN'T getting bigger so you might start to see some improvement once your body has a few months to work on them unobstructed.

I guess I'm saying that IMHO, you shouldn't lock yourself into any specific diagnosis just yet. Give your body some time to really tackle the clots (6 month to a year) and see how things look in a little while.

Although... I do have to say that I like your new doctor. She'll consider different possibilities and she'll admit that she's not sure and she's not in any hurry to rush you off to another CT. All good signs.

Yes my PEs were/are chronic. As Toss says, don't jump to too many conclusions about what will happen and really only time will tell. Your consultant isn't 100% sure about them being chronic, which is fairly typical. They should have scanned your heart as well, as if you've had PEs for a length of time, your heart would probably show some signs (enlargement). Did they discuss this?

Being chronic doesn't mean the clots won't dissolve and if they were due to birth control, they may dissolve as normal if you stop. Even if they don't fully dissolve, there is a whole range of symptoms / severity which only in the worst cases would lead to surgery (CTEPH).

Really, you should see how things pan out over the next 6-12 months. When I was diagnosed, I was initially quite happy / optimistic. That's been tempered somewhat since then, but don't lose sight of the fact that its been caught and is getting treatment.

Gotta agree with Toss and rosiethecat,

Try not to let that term "chronic" freak you out. That's not an automatic precursor to long term difficulties or even surgery. In fact, there are people here who have chronic clots who are completely fine.

Try to focus just on today, how you feel. Then tomorrow you do that again, and again the next day. Take each day as it come. Right now, the anticoagulant is protecting you from new clots. So that at least gives your body a chance to get busy trying to resolve the old clots the best that it can. Those chronic clots aren't going to go anywhere. If your doc was overly alarmed, she'd be taking a more aggressive approach.

You're ok. Stay in the moment as much as you can.

It's excellent that your new doctor listened to what you've experienced over this period of time and is willing to take that into consideration and consider it, and she definitely sounds like a keeper.

I also agree with the others not to get too hung up on the specifics right now. I think you did what you needed to do in finding a doctor who really heard you and will now look at things from that angle, but as the others said, and no doubt your doctor did too, it's just too early to tell anything for certain. Whether your clots are chronic or acute (or a combination of both) you're on the right treatment for this point in time, and all you can do is wait to see how much the clot changes over the next several months. Worrying about the possibility of surgery, particularly that surgery, won't be beneficial to you. PE messes with our heads as much as our bodies, particularly when we had to fight to get diagnosed. We get so used to having to push for medical attention and treatment that it's hard to relax when we're finally being cared for properly. There isn't really anything else medically that can be done at this point in time except to take the anticoagulant and allow your body to work on getting rid of these clots rather than making them. I think exercise is really important for recovery, so if your doctors have cleared you for just walking at least, then pay attention to how your body reacts, and try to look for improvement. PE recovery happens so slowly and gradually that it can be easy to overlook improvement. For me, it helped to NOT try to see progress from one day to another, but I'd try to take a mental snapshot of how I felt on a particular day, then I'd try not to think about it much again until a week later, and I'd compare. It really helped me because I think I saw progress I may have otherwise missed, so it kept me feeling positive that things were moving in the right direction, albeit slowly.

Also, remember that you're only two months into recovery, and that's really just scratching the surface. Regardless of how long your clots may have been present, you're still only two months since your body could start healing, so it just needs time to do its thing, and mentally you deserve a break, so try to take it now, while you wait.

Thanks so much guys. Once again, just getting your support has helped eased my anxieties.

@Rosiethecat - they did an echo test, and they said there didn't appear to be any damage to my heart, although I'm currently getting a lot of skipped beats (PACs and PVCs). They also detected 'mild right ventrical strain' in the CT scan I had when I was first diagnosed. Did anyone else ever get these types of heart issues?

Mild heart strain doesn't sound too bad, many people with PEs will have it and it largely sorts itself out within the usual 6 months. I also had a lot of ectopic (skipped) beats at the times of my PEs (~220/hr), so must be something to do with the extra strain on the heart.

Heart palps can be from a lot of things, not necessarily a heart issue. Dehydration, thyroid issue, anemia, stress, hormones, anxiety, adrenaline from anxiety are some of the non heart related causes . I get them right before I get my period.

I'd ask your doc if it's related to the heart strain.

Also, I had heart damage from my PE (which eventually resolved) and I never had heart palps from it.