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.
Hi all,
I figured I'd just do a post to let all of my friends know how my appointments went this week. First I want to talk everyone who was there for me through my stress and anxiety this week, as there was a lot of it...even if it was mostly made up by my friend anxiety!
Monday I went to my Hematologist for a INR check, and a follow up with the doctor. After being on coumadin for 6 months on the same dose and always withen 2.1-3.0...I finally took a dive to 1.5! I was puzzled at first...
Then I realized I forgot my dose on sat! DUH... so I saw the dr. and he didnt change my dose, he said that since my clot was gone that 1.5 wasnt too low, and he wasnt concerned he told me to continue with my normal dose! ( That worried me for a moment! But I do trust him.) He asked how I was doing, listened to my lungs and said I was dong great, which was nice to hear considering every other visit to him has been me making emergancy appointments thinking im dying lol. I guess things are really starting to change!
I also went to a dermatologist bc of my anxiety driven fear that I all of the sudden had skin cancer... (I know its ok for you to laugh at me.) Of course all was well and I'm happy I went, after I told her my story she actually told me they prescribe Yaz b.c. for acne!!!!! and I was horrified... seemed to have taken me seriously and said that she does warn her patients of the potential side effects and has them fill out a questionare regarding family history! I guess I'm ok with people taking it if they know what could happen...as I was never given this information! I know that if my Dr. would have informed me of the potential side effects of Yaz I would have opted to take my crappy periods anyday!
Tuesday: I went to therapy with my girlfriend, things were a little heated but I know that couple counceling isnt cake... lol so my therapist recommended a few more couple sessions to try to work things out, we are confident it will help us understand eachother better!
Thursday: ( today) I had an appointment with the pulmonologist that I have been fearing for days! I went through hell in back to get all of my ct scans on film, cd - rom, reports...bc I just wanted to get it all over with. Getting the records was one of the most stressful events of the week, that took up tons of time and had me running back and forth to the hospital UGH. So turns out it wasnt so bad! He read all of my reports and looked at my ct scans... of course he said I was a lucky girl, but that generally healthy people are able to fight off clots very well, so he wasnt surprised. He spoke of P.E.s like they were a minor occurence, he said they they happen often, and they are not really as deadly as they are portrayed...serious as they may be, he insisted they were only deadly if your heart and lungs are seriously impared or you do not seek medical treatment. I thankfully do not have any lung damage or scarring! No infractions! He didnt feel i needed any lung funtion tests, he did walk me around the office with a oxygen monitor on to see if it dropped, altough he said he was only doing it to make me feel better, lol. My oxygen never dropped below 99% which is great!
He also told me since it had been 6 months he recommended I come off the coumadin but I told him I was going to stick to what my hematologist said, which is 1 year... lol im just not ready!
Well thats about it, I will try to reflect back to this week in the future, when I am scared about appointments bc I swore I would find out something horrible, when the pulmonologist really didnt understand why I was seeing him, he said I was in perfect health again, almost as if the pe didn happen at all! He said any aches I may feel are muscular and will continue to disapate as I become more active. I am definately getting back on my treadmill this appointment has given me the confedence to know "hey your lungs and heart are not going to explode or crap out on you if you exercise" Now I just need to let the fact that I am healthy sink in..after so many months of thinking "Im soo ill" I have to now face that I actually am healthy...and normal...what a victory and epiphany this is for me...Ive been living my life like im made of glass, and dying...I am a healthy 21 year old women and the only precautions i must take now are the ones having to do with coumadin for another 6 months!
I must add, I had two rasberry margaritas tonight as celebration! YAY! I wasnt too scared since my INR was 1.5...
Thank you all again for being here for me!
I hope that anyone who is feeling hopeless, or anxiety ridden when thinking of upcoming appointments reads this and realizes that things do get better...I swore 3 months ago my life was over and its not, its just starting over again...I will be a new me!
xoxo
Ashley
p.s. congradulations on reading this novel.
I figured I'd just do a post to let all of my friends know how my appointments went this week. First I want to talk everyone who was there for me through my stress and anxiety this week, as there was a lot of it...even if it was mostly made up by my friend anxiety!
Monday I went to my Hematologist for a INR check, and a follow up with the doctor. After being on coumadin for 6 months on the same dose and always withen 2.1-3.0...I finally took a dive to 1.5! I was puzzled at first...
Then I realized I forgot my dose on sat! DUH... so I saw the dr. and he didnt change my dose, he said that since my clot was gone that 1.5 wasnt too low, and he wasnt concerned he told me to continue with my normal dose! ( That worried me for a moment! But I do trust him.) He asked how I was doing, listened to my lungs and said I was dong great, which was nice to hear considering every other visit to him has been me making emergancy appointments thinking im dying lol. I guess things are really starting to change!
I also went to a dermatologist bc of my anxiety driven fear that I all of the sudden had skin cancer... (I know its ok for you to laugh at me.) Of course all was well and I'm happy I went, after I told her my story she actually told me they prescribe Yaz b.c. for acne!!!!! and I was horrified... seemed to have taken me seriously and said that she does warn her patients of the potential side effects and has them fill out a questionare regarding family history! I guess I'm ok with people taking it if they know what could happen...as I was never given this information! I know that if my Dr. would have informed me of the potential side effects of Yaz I would have opted to take my crappy periods anyday!
Tuesday: I went to therapy with my girlfriend, things were a little heated but I know that couple counceling isnt cake... lol so my therapist recommended a few more couple sessions to try to work things out, we are confident it will help us understand eachother better!
Thursday: ( today) I had an appointment with the pulmonologist that I have been fearing for days! I went through hell in back to get all of my ct scans on film, cd - rom, reports...bc I just wanted to get it all over with. Getting the records was one of the most stressful events of the week, that took up tons of time and had me running back and forth to the hospital UGH. So turns out it wasnt so bad! He read all of my reports and looked at my ct scans... of course he said I was a lucky girl, but that generally healthy people are able to fight off clots very well, so he wasnt surprised. He spoke of P.E.s like they were a minor occurence, he said they they happen often, and they are not really as deadly as they are portrayed...serious as they may be, he insisted they were only deadly if your heart and lungs are seriously impared or you do not seek medical treatment. I thankfully do not have any lung damage or scarring! No infractions! He didnt feel i needed any lung funtion tests, he did walk me around the office with a oxygen monitor on to see if it dropped, altough he said he was only doing it to make me feel better, lol. My oxygen never dropped below 99% which is great!
He also told me since it had been 6 months he recommended I come off the coumadin but I told him I was going to stick to what my hematologist said, which is 1 year... lol im just not ready!
Well thats about it, I will try to reflect back to this week in the future, when I am scared about appointments bc I swore I would find out something horrible, when the pulmonologist really didnt understand why I was seeing him, he said I was in perfect health again, almost as if the pe didn happen at all! He said any aches I may feel are muscular and will continue to disapate as I become more active. I am definately getting back on my treadmill this appointment has given me the confedence to know "hey your lungs and heart are not going to explode or crap out on you if you exercise" Now I just need to let the fact that I am healthy sink in..after so many months of thinking "Im soo ill" I have to now face that I actually am healthy...and normal...what a victory and epiphany this is for me...Ive been living my life like im made of glass, and dying...I am a healthy 21 year old women and the only precautions i must take now are the ones having to do with coumadin for another 6 months!
I must add, I had two rasberry margaritas tonight as celebration! YAY! I wasnt too scared since my INR was 1.5...
Thank you all again for being here for me!
I hope that anyone who is feeling hopeless, or anxiety ridden when thinking of upcoming appointments reads this and realizes that things do get better...I swore 3 months ago my life was over and its not, its just starting over again...I will be a new me!
xoxo
Ashley
p.s. congradulations on reading this novel.
LOL
Barbara
Had to laugh when you said the pulmonologist acted like a PE was a minor occurence. I saw my pulmonologist before the CT scan---we weren't sure why I was short of breath at the time so he ordered some tests for me. After gettting out of the hospital after my PE diagnosis I went to see my pulomonologist. His exact words were, "I'm glad that it was just a PE, I was testing you for much worse things". I laughed...really "just a PE" I guess that it puts things in perspective...it could always be much worse.
Congratulations on your good week!
that way.
In my enthusiasm, I went past the page to the right side, sorry!!!
But YAY!! Ashley!!!
the good news from both you
and Dawn. continued from
Lori!
After 2 weeks on the "pills" I think I'm beginning to feel better! I'm a bit scared to believe it yet but have definitely had more energy this week and don't feel as breathless either. Its early days but I do feel more optimistic now.
I'm sure your anxieties will start to fade now but none of us will forget 2008 in a hurry will we? Lots of love - Sandie xx
Hey cupcake - wonderful news!
I'm so happy for you and truly hope that 2009
will be a great year for all of us too.
After 2 weeks on the "pills" I think
I'm beginning to feel better! I'm a bit scared
to believe it yet but have definitely had more
energy this week and don't feel as breathless either.
Its early days but I do feel more optimistic now.
I'm sure your anxieties will start to fade now but
none of us will forget 2008 in a hurry will we?
Lots of love - Sandie xx
Hey cupcake - wonderful news!
I'm so happy for you and truly hope that 2009
will be a great year for all of us too.
After 2 weeks on the "pills" I think
I'm beginning to feel better! I'm a bit scared
to believe it yet but have definitely had more
energy this week and don't feel as breathless either.
Its early days but I do feel more optimistic now.
I'm sure your anxieties will start to fade now but
none of us will forget 2008 in a hurry will we?
Lots of love - Sandie xx
Of course ... a lot has to to with the fact that you were probably READY to hear this news, ya know? If docs started in on this really soon afterwards it's sort of dismissive of the trauma we've just been through and makes us mad (I know it would've made me mad). And now ... here we are 6 months later, feeling like we're on the mend, looking outward instead of inward ... ready to face the world again, and ... lo and behold ... turns out we're healthy girls!
Damn right!! Look out world!! (LOL!)
*Hugs*
Again, I'd like to mention that I couldnt have gotten as far as I have without all of you, each of you in your own way has truly touched my life, weather our circumstances are similar, or far different...you have all brough something to my life!
I truly think I needed to hear everything that pulmonologist said to me: its like "the true hollywood story" of a pe...its really not that great big super deadly thing we all think it is, it can be deadly but if you really think about it...you could slip on a bananna peal and die... lol so really I think he really did give me some good perspective - and I hope I'm able to pass this on to you all who are afraid.
MAUH MAUH MAUH thank you!
xoxo