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.
I went to an appt. at my PCP's office today mainly to discuss concerns about the warfarin and wanting to switch to brand name coumadin, or to lovenox, or come off of it completely. I'm switching to brand name currently, and was referred to see a hemotologist. I happened to ask about a CT scan I had done last month when I had new pain. The tech reporting the results seemed confused at the time, but was clear that there were no new clots, and game me dimensions on something that she was unsure if it was the clot or the dead lung tissue. My PCP read me the results, which said that their is no current evidence of a PE, and gave the dimensions of the dead lung tissue. I asked how this CT had compared to the initial one I had in the ER, and all that the ER CT report said was that it showed an "extensive" PE. Despite the dead lung tissue, I think I'm going to have a "Yay! My PE is Gone!" celebration.
Just wanted to share...:)
Just wanted to share...:)
Great news for you on the clean CT scan. I dont remember your circumstances, but is it a little soon to be going off of the Warafin? You implied you were going to see a hematologist which seems to suggest that they dont know the cause of your PEs.
While we would all like to dump the medication down the sink, there are several people here who have been bit a second time after dumping the Warafin.
Good Luck
Robert
Robert, I agree that I don't want to do anything too drastic too soon, but the hemotologists I saw in the hospital were pretty sure that my PE was caused by the Yaz birth control pills, as no one else in my family has had a clot--except for my grandmother in her 70s as a result of a bad heart valve. They just didn't do all of the tests prior to starting me on the warfarin. If the brand name coumadin isn't any better for me where the side effects are concerned, I'll see if they would be willing to monitor me on the Lovenox and do the testing earlier. I'm not sure what they will say, but I figure that it's worth a try to ask.
Thanks again for your input, advice, and words of encouragement. :)
Lesa
It's great when news like this is posted on the forums. Gotta love the positive vibes.