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 am actually posting/asking this about my father... I have been through all the tests, and so I am curious as to protocol and what I have always thought it to be. Bit of a long story, sorry. :)
So, shortly before Thanksgiving of last year, my Father started developing some problems. And again, I apologize, some of this may be TMI. He was having trouble urinating, and apparently it had been ongoing. However, he also had major swelling, redness, and pain in both of his lower legs/feet. I told him those were all signs of a DVT, but his PCP was sure it was due to fluid back up. He finally got to the point where he couldn't go at all, so went to the ER where they determined he had an enlarged prostate and need some minor surgery. They did check for DVT's, apparently didn't find anything, yet had him on oxygen as well as lovenox injections. What should have been a simple overnight stay turned into almost 2 weeks. They finally sent him home, without the lovenox, and still not sure why they put him on it or why they took him off it. I am assuming they did so as a precaution.
Not even two weeks later, he was at home with chest pains and shortness of breath. He went by rescue to the hospital, this time a different one (thankfully!). There, they discovered he had DVT's in both legs and though they could not do a cat scan because of kidney problems, were very sure he also had PE's. He again was put on oxygen and lovenox, and started on coumadin, and between the hospital and a nursing home type place, he was there for over a month.
Finally getting to my question. I asked if his doctor, or the hospital, ran any of the tests, which I thought were the norm, especially given my history (I tested postive for a few disorders). His doctor told him no, it was not needed, and he would be on coumadin for the standard 6 months. Honeslty I thought all PE's/DVT's, especially with no obvious cause plus family history, were cause for testing. Am I wrong? Personally, I think he should push the issue but he is a stubborn old man! LOL Also, his PCP took him off coumadin becaue after only a month he was not in range, and put him on one of the new meds. Can't recall the name, but I know it is not Pradaxa.
The whole thing just seems a bit off to me! Thoughts anyone?
So, shortly before Thanksgiving of last year, my Father started developing some problems. And again, I apologize, some of this may be TMI. He was having trouble urinating, and apparently it had been ongoing. However, he also had major swelling, redness, and pain in both of his lower legs/feet. I told him those were all signs of a DVT, but his PCP was sure it was due to fluid back up. He finally got to the point where he couldn't go at all, so went to the ER where they determined he had an enlarged prostate and need some minor surgery. They did check for DVT's, apparently didn't find anything, yet had him on oxygen as well as lovenox injections. What should have been a simple overnight stay turned into almost 2 weeks. They finally sent him home, without the lovenox, and still not sure why they put him on it or why they took him off it. I am assuming they did so as a precaution.
Not even two weeks later, he was at home with chest pains and shortness of breath. He went by rescue to the hospital, this time a different one (thankfully!). There, they discovered he had DVT's in both legs and though they could not do a cat scan because of kidney problems, were very sure he also had PE's. He again was put on oxygen and lovenox, and started on coumadin, and between the hospital and a nursing home type place, he was there for over a month.
Finally getting to my question. I asked if his doctor, or the hospital, ran any of the tests, which I thought were the norm, especially given my history (I tested postive for a few disorders). His doctor told him no, it was not needed, and he would be on coumadin for the standard 6 months. Honeslty I thought all PE's/DVT's, especially with no obvious cause plus family history, were cause for testing. Am I wrong? Personally, I think he should push the issue but he is a stubborn old man! LOL Also, his PCP took him off coumadin becaue after only a month he was not in range, and put him on one of the new meds. Can't recall the name, but I know it is not Pradaxa.
The whole thing just seems a bit off to me! Thoughts anyone?
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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.
CDiff is such a nasty infection. I know someone who had C Diff so bad and it wouldn't respond to treatment so he ended up having a fecal transplant, and that took care of it. Crazy, right? It's not a totally accepted treatment at this point, but his GI doc was very progressive about it.
Anyway, I'm keeping a good thought for your dad. It' s a rough haul when you've got a couple of things going on at the same time. You hang in there too!