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.
Hey y'all,
I haven't been around in a while but I think of you guys often.
I'm approaching the one year anniversary of my (second) PE.
Last year, I didn't put up my Christmas tree because I had my PE at the beginning of December.
As Christmas approaches this year, I am feeling a bit sad, scared, anxious...I am not even sure of the right word for my emotions.
I just want a bit of support.
And I want to know how others have handled "anniversaries."
-Anne
I haven't been around in a while but I think of you guys often.
I'm approaching the one year anniversary of my (second) PE.
Last year, I didn't put up my Christmas tree because I had my PE at the beginning of December.
As Christmas approaches this year, I am feeling a bit sad, scared, anxious...I am not even sure of the right word for my emotions.
I just want a bit of support.
And I want to know how others have handled "anniversaries."
-Anne
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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.
I'm sorry you are feeling scared and anxious. It is understandable that you feel that way. Having a PE is a scary experience, and then going through it twice, worsens the fear and anxiety.
I have had three PE's (long story). This is what helps me, perhaps it will help you...
As we all know, people can die from PE's. So the fact that I had a PE, again and again, is scary. BUT the fact that I cheated death three times is cause for gratitude and celebration. I try to make each day a celebration of life.
Leslie
I would like to hear your story when you feel like sharing it.
I like the way you phrased things. I've been thinking about gratitude a lot lately this Thanksgiving season. A cause for gratitude and celebration indeed!
It's my 1 year anniversary in a few days as well. I'm feeling exactly the same as you are, I keep getting flashbacks and they're so vivid and real.
At least we're here to see the anniversary, big hugs to you
Karen xxx
I let my first anniversary go by with little outward fan fair, but it was definitely on my mind. I too had some mixed emotions, feeling so happy to still be around, but also sad and anxious, flashbacking to the whole event. But I just tried to act like it was a normal day. I didn't make a big deal about it to my husband or family in an attempt to feel normal, you know what I mean? I think for me, I spent the whole year before in that recovery mindset, with all the physical and emotional ups and downs. So, I just tried to look at my first anniversary as sort of turning the page on an old chapter and starting new. Rebirth!
With the second year anniversary, I still thought about it, but I wasn't so conflicted about it. That old cliche about time healing wounds is so true.
Take care!
It's been seventeen years since my PE and all is better then well on my end. For me, getting past the anxiety of having another clot was a matter of self-educating myself about blood clots and clotting disorders. The more I learned, the more I became less stressed about the future. Eventually I took what I've learned over the years and decided to help others by becoming a national Patient Advocate for blood clot awareness. I helped co-found the National Alliance for Thrombosis and Thrombophilia (NATT).
Getting over the anxiety is not a easy things but you can not let the fear consume you. As Denis (aka Dero) says on his website, there is "Life after DVT" and it's how you choose to use it. For me being retired military I think I no longer stress out about the little, or big things, that come your way in life. I've been in worse places and having survived a major DVT/PE (2 DVT's actually) little things get to me these days.
I will have to be careful still on plane rides, car rides and siiting still too long...keep moving my doctor says.
So happy to make it to my one year mark....I am almost giddy!!!
Luckily, I have not had to deal with much anxiety surrounding this during the past year. My life is good- good husband, good dog, good job. I had a complete recovery. My INR has been stable for many months.
It just surprised me the way the arrival of the anniversary hit me.
Thanks for being there for me.
I knew y'all would understand.