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.
In reality I am so frustrated right now, and of course that stresses me, and of course makes me feel even worse. Right now my primary care physician is out of town. I was told to test my INR on Wednesday and to call or fax my results to his office anyway as his on call doctor would take good care of me while he was gone. I took my last Lovenox shot at 9 PM on Tuesday. So I got my INR which is at 1.9 and I called the clinic. I reminded them about my clotting problems and told them I was way below therapeutic and need a prescription for Lovenox called in right away to keep me safely covered. I was immediately told that the nurse will call me back in a bit. Hummmmmm. OK 4 hours later still no call from the nurse and still no called in prescription, so I called the clinic back and was patched through to the nurse who told me the on call doctor recommended I quit the Lovenox and continue my dosage of 10 mg one day and 12.5 mg the next. I asked the nurse if the doctor was aware that I had a tendency to throw clots when I got below therapeutic and therapeutic for me was between 2.5 and 3.5. Her answer to me was...." Well he's the one who went to medical school and is the doctor , I'm sure he read your chart and knows what he's doing". OK PANIC MODE...... I am now uncovered and absolutely freak! I called my hubby on the cell told him what was going on then had to proceed to get ready for work. I told my co-workers what was going on and now their freaking because being nurses and knowing my history they are ready to admit me. All did turn out well because i guess my hubby finally got through to the doctor and explained that if I die I WOULD come back and Haunt his sorry but for generation to come, and that was a promise. Oh I think he also mentioned a lawsuit for malpractice too since he knew my history. Anyway I was given more Lovenox and instructions to re-test in a week and to please only call when my doctor was there.
OK do they actually think I am abusing Lovenox and what would be my gain, I don't get high off the stuff, it doesn't make me feel good, and I certainly don't enjoy injecting myself.
OK do they actually think I am abusing Lovenox and what would be my gain, I don't get high off the stuff, it doesn't make me feel good, and I certainly don't enjoy injecting myself.
Your dh is an angel "Guardian Angel" for you .I f I was in your shoes I would feel the same way .
It does not build anyones confidence in the medical community when things like this happen . We depend on them to keep us safe and ALIVE .
You were told not to call the on call doc again ? Wow...
Hmmmmm I have two boxs of Lovenox sitting in my closet...you can get high on those injections ;-)lol.
(((hugs)))
I'm so glad your husband stood up for you. It's amazing what threats of haunting and lawsuits can get done!!
Do you have a filter? I would think that would provide a lot of security for you if you have a tendency to throw clots when you're sub-therapeutic.
I agree about the Lovenox, I can't imagine why anyone would WANT to use/abuse it!! That's crazy!
Glad things worked out and hope you're feeling better.
Sarah
It turned out to be a lucky thing that I had 3 injectons of Lovenox left from last year, since I did briefly have to return to it and the prescription was made late in the day. Now, should I need it, I have none.
Your experience shows just what timely action we may get (or not get) from the gatekeepers of our survival. I wonder if it is one of those things we ought to somehow have on hand just like diabetics tend to have a stash of the more fast-acting insulin.
I am always concerned when I read posts like this as there are many out there who do not have advocates and without them poor decisions can be made, which could have serious consequences.
Amyway well done for keeping at it and getting the right result
One question, when is your Dr. coming back? OK more then one question, why don't you report this JACK*** and his nurse's for their unprofessionalism.(there are standards in each line of work, that need to be respected, this guy thinks he's above the law???) If your Dr. had thought that he (the replacement Dr.) was adequate to replace him(your regular Dr.) should'nt he not know...
Enough of this BS,we as patients need to be treated as such, not just some third or fourth class citizen because we have DVT that WE DID NOT ASK FOR in the first place...
sorry,I get carried away, but I think you get the gist of it, DON'T let this incident be unreported, please.
Sorry they put you through that. It is great that your hubby set them straight! Hope you get to feeling better soon!
God Bless,
Tabitha
I too empathize and sympathize. This the same sort of thing that caused my problem.I went to the Dr. 1 month before my trip with complaintsof leg pain and Shortness of breath. She essentially blew me off told me I had had some superficial clots but no DVT in about 17 years and she felt I was ok and had COPD from smoking that I quit 9 years ago. Well went on vacation for 2 days (supposed to be 8 days) in St. Thomas VI in ICU for 10 days. Haven't been near right since. I do truely blame her. I think when people come in with significant complaints they should be thoroughly checked out.
Yes I did report the on call doctor and his nurse to my Doctor and he told me he will set them straight. By the way before I ended up back here in the hospital I was trying to color coordinate my scrubs to my bruises. It wasn't to hard as long as the bruises stayed purple, blue and red, but once they started turning yellow and that drab green I ran out of scrubs to color coordinate with. Besides drab green looks horrid on me
HUGS
Ferr