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.
Usually I remember my clottiversery. A time to reflect on how lucky I am and how scary it was at the time(and for a long time after). I have just realised that the day went past without a thought.
My first clot was over 8 years ago and my second over 4 years ago.
Over the last few years I have actively challenged my fears through travel, new adventures and experiences. Pushing past thoughts of what if....
This last 2 years I have done a lot of what i feared...some big, some small...from riding an elephant in Indonesia (I did still worry about what if I fell, but I had to be brave to set a good example for my children who were also riding elephants. My dad, my hero just said don't worry just do it) to taking a 6 hour car ride (12 hours return ) into the country to visit a friend with my children. Riding in the car any more than 20 minutes from home used to scare me.
I went swimming the other day enjoyed it. Being in a swimming pool gave me a sensation similar to when I had the clots and I avoided going in the pool for years.
I have reached a point when instead of thinking "is this a clot?" when I have chest pain to reasoning why it isn't a clot very quickly. I get pleurisy and inflammation of my rib joints frequently - both cause shortness of breath and chest pain- and this used to really bother me.
So i guess my journey to forgetting my clottiversery has been a good one. I have an appreciation for life that many don't have the opportunity to have. I have forced my self to step outside of fear and 'just do it anyway'
Happy not my clottiversery today. I shall now spend some time thinking about what challenge to do next
My first clot was over 8 years ago and my second over 4 years ago.
Over the last few years I have actively challenged my fears through travel, new adventures and experiences. Pushing past thoughts of what if....
This last 2 years I have done a lot of what i feared...some big, some small...from riding an elephant in Indonesia (I did still worry about what if I fell, but I had to be brave to set a good example for my children who were also riding elephants. My dad, my hero just said don't worry just do it) to taking a 6 hour car ride (12 hours return ) into the country to visit a friend with my children. Riding in the car any more than 20 minutes from home used to scare me.
I went swimming the other day enjoyed it. Being in a swimming pool gave me a sensation similar to when I had the clots and I avoided going in the pool for years.
I have reached a point when instead of thinking "is this a clot?" when I have chest pain to reasoning why it isn't a clot very quickly. I get pleurisy and inflammation of my rib joints frequently - both cause shortness of breath and chest pain- and this used to really bother me.
So i guess my journey to forgetting my clottiversery has been a good one. I have an appreciation for life that many don't have the opportunity to have. I have forced my self to step outside of fear and 'just do it anyway'
Happy not my clottiversery today. I shall now spend some time thinking about what challenge to do next
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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.
Best wishes for a continued happy life.
So glad you're doing well and have conquered so many things that were hanging you up.