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.
it's me again.
I can't have a surgery until my PEs and DVTs are under control -- I guess that's how they would explain it. I'm scheduled for the surgery on 8/11 since by then, I will have been on Lovenox injections for 3 months,
However, I don't have any follow up scans scheduled before the surgery. My logic would tell me that someone might want to at LEAST do another doppler on my leg to see if there are more clots or fewer clots or smaller clots. After all, that test is not invasive and fairly cheap. I can understand why the doc wouldn't want to do another chest CT with contrast but yikes, I feel like they are really relying on the fact that the injections have worked.
Have any of you had follow up scans or ultrasounds at some point to see how the medicine was working?
Also, regarding the injections. More often than not, when I push the plunger to release the cover, medicine squirts out. This upsets me. Why does this happen? I swear I put the needle in at a 90 degree angle, push the plunger slowly down until I "hit resistance", and then I leave the needle in for a count of 10. You'd THINK it was all in by then.
Does anyone else still have an amount of medicine squirt out when you push the plunger again to release the cover? Some days it's more medicine coming out than others. If it was a pat amount, I'd assume it was the little extra they put in the needle at the factory. but different amounts indicates to me that I'm doing something wrong.
I can't have a surgery until my PEs and DVTs are under control -- I guess that's how they would explain it. I'm scheduled for the surgery on 8/11 since by then, I will have been on Lovenox injections for 3 months,
However, I don't have any follow up scans scheduled before the surgery. My logic would tell me that someone might want to at LEAST do another doppler on my leg to see if there are more clots or fewer clots or smaller clots. After all, that test is not invasive and fairly cheap. I can understand why the doc wouldn't want to do another chest CT with contrast but yikes, I feel like they are really relying on the fact that the injections have worked.
Have any of you had follow up scans or ultrasounds at some point to see how the medicine was working?
Also, regarding the injections. More often than not, when I push the plunger to release the cover, medicine squirts out. This upsets me. Why does this happen? I swear I put the needle in at a 90 degree angle, push the plunger slowly down until I "hit resistance", and then I leave the needle in for a count of 10. You'd THINK it was all in by then.
Does anyone else still have an amount of medicine squirt out when you push the plunger again to release the cover? Some days it's more medicine coming out than others. If it was a pat amount, I'd assume it was the little extra they put in the needle at the factory. but different amounts indicates to me that I'm doing something wrong.
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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.
For the most part, after three months on the meds, the assumption is that the clots will have stabilized. They shouldn't be growing and, if they are even still there, they should be hardening and are at very little risk of breaking off and traveling. Also, ultimately, the meds aren't responsible for making the clots smaller... your body has to do that. There's not much (if anything) to be done to speed up that process.
If you still have clots at three months, I don't know that that is a reason not to do the surgery. My first DVT took about nine years to go away completely (I actually assumed that I would have it forever) and I know you don't want to wait that long for your surgery.
BUT... if you really feel strongly about having a repeat scan, then ask your doc and see if they'll send you. Some docs will and some won't, but you won't know unless you ask.
As for the meds, check with the pharmacist about what you're seeing and find out what he/she says. Also, you could always ask to go into your doc's office to do an injection and see if they have any pointers for you. You're probably fine ... I know they put extra in those needles.
The fellow I spoke with was kind of vague but did say they load the syringe with extra meds in case you screw up putting it in. He couldn't explain why sometimes more squirts out at the end than other times. I've watched so many unknown humans on Youtube, pinching their inch and injecting themselves. There's one girl who has a pierced belly button which is cool but gee, I wish she had put new polish on her nails before making the video, LOL. It was mostly worn off black polish. Anyway, I'm trying everyone's techniques. I will find a way, right?