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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Doctor Question

CivilizedRedneck
CivilizedRedneck
My PCP wants me to see a vascular doctor. What types of procedures will they do never been to one before. thanks for any input.
deleted_user
deleted_user
It depends on why they're sending you there?? I saw one who did tests to see if I had heart valve damage due to oxygen restriction during my PE. But there's lots of reasons and lots of different tests. They can put in a filter if you don't have one, or do surgery if you're not responding to blood thinners ect.
More2be
More2be
I would ask about seeing a hematologist as well, if that has not happened already. A hematologist is the one most likely to help piece together the "why" part, as well as the one most likely to advise the doctor about continuing or ceasing the warfarin. Often the hemo appointment comes along 3 months to a year out.
http://www.fvleiden.org/recently-diagnosed/what_test.html
CivilizedRedneck
CivilizedRedneck
More2be, I see my pulmonary doctor in just under 2 weeks after that I go see a hematologist (May 21 will my 3 month birthday). But what I cant figure out is why my pulmonary doctor was telling me that I would be on warfarin for life even before leaving the hospital. A little background info on me. 14 PEs bi-lateral, cardiac arrest, started warfarin @ 10mg drop to 8mg holding steady @ 5mg for a little over a month INR 2.5 for 3 weeks straight. And filter free. Was told that there was no damage to my heart but Im unsure if he is right, hope he is (died on ER table 25 mins) not sure how many CT scans I had (he didnt want to put me in the CT again) Mrs. Redneck says at least 3. Plus all the other tests they performed. Thanks for the link good stuff on there.
rmb
rmb
They usually put you on it for life for a second clotting event or if you have genetic clotting issues. Maybe the size of your clots scared the shit out of your doc and he he just automatically said you're a lifer.

As most of us will tell you, the first rule of PE Club is that all your doctors will probably tell you something a little different. That's always fun to sort through when you're trying to process this whole thing.
CivilizedRedneck
CivilizedRedneck
Go Big or Go Home thats what I say, seriously just found out Tuesday that my aunt had a PE in her lung a few years back so it looks like I might be a lifer. On the upside maybe the Warfarin brain fog will make me forget why my hair fell out. Ha Ha ;)
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