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.
Just wanted to "checkk in" with everybody. Been a while since I've been back here. I've had 4 DVT in my life. The last one in May 2015 being a PE from a recent one in my leg that broke off and landed in my lung. I'm currently on OXYGEN at night and will be on COUMADIN for life and of course the lovely LOVENOX SHOTS once in a while. When having to give myself those, it's really not a big deal for me it's just that my belly looks like a WAR ZONE. I love walking and was doing a mile a day before the PE with my golden retriever. didn't think I'd ever be able to do THAT again but I have worked diligently on that all summer a little at a time increasing my footsteps more each week and by AUGUST I was actually back up to a whole MILE!!! I do a "nature walk" with my dog, and I can't do it every single day but pretty proud of myself for getting back up to that in only 3 months. We of course go very slow, and doddle around along the way and rest at the 1/2 way point. I find I can breathe the best early in the morning to be able to walk that far and there can NOT be any humidity in the air or forget it. I can hardly breathe when it's HUMID outside. The heat will make it difficult to breathe too if I'm outside. But for every 3 steps forward it's one step back and I have to slow down. Don't get discouraged if you are a recent PE survivor. There are bad days in between the good days and that doesn't mean you will never have a good day again....because you will. So, I just wanted to give you all an update. Hang in there if you are new to this. It will get better.
I am thinking it is the weather change in my area. We are usually very dry and hot. But its been cooler and alot of moisture in the air. My back hurts horrible - so bad I am getting that nausea feeling again that I thought was a thing of the past.
I am four months out from my hospitalization for bilateral PE's, a Saddle PE, and three DVT. No tests until 6 month mark so its waiting and hoping Eliquis is doing its job!! The good or "new normal" days are so nice but the "reminder" painful days are quite discouraging.
Reading your post about you walks with your dog put a smile on my face. And your words of encouragement has helped me a lot this morning! Thank you!
I also suffered a massive bilateral PE in May 2015, 9 weeks postpartum, and my recovery sounds similar to yours. I'm on warfarin (coumadin) for life. My good days are becoming more frequent thankfully and beginning to allow myself to enjoy life again with a lot less fear. I also feel like I'm getting the anxiety under control, that really was something I wasn't prepared for at all and by far has been the worst side effect for me to deal with. This support forum has been a great aid to my recovery.