I don't think that you should feel bad Jan. Even when we've had bad experiences with doctors, we still tend to trust that they know what they're doing and giving proper and complete care. I would be interested in knowing how they had arrived at the pneumonia diagnosis, whether he actually had pneumonia or whether it was PE's all along that looked like pneumonia on X-rays, and they simply misdiagnosed him. Or if, as you say, could the DVT/PE's have developed while he was really sick with pneumonia? If it was a missed diagnosis, then I think unfortunately it goes back once again to the necessity of better education within the medical community regarding DVT/PE. Far too often PE's appear to not even be considered. I understand it can be difficult to diagnose that symptomatically, but I think (based on my experience) that the current tactic that most doctors take is to make a guess and start treating the thing which would be most common without knowing for certain what's wrong, then when that doesn't work try a different route, and so on until they finally hit on what the problem really is. I mean, seriously, there must be a more efficient way to diagnose, right?

Although I still consider myself young, I think I do come from a generation in which I feel like doctors when I was growing up cared more and took more time with their patients, and I still have that preconceived notion that a person's doctor on some level cares for them as a person seeking and needing help and wants to do what's best for the patient. Unfortunately, I don't think that's so much the case now, as I have had far more doctors who view me as little piece of their assembly line patient lineup and just want to get me out as quickly as possible without bothering to really look at what the symptoms point to. I for myself have almost completely lost respect for the profession because I've been treated like that so often, and feel that they really do no more than what I can do for myself, making (somewhat) educated guesses. Despite that, I still tend to automatically believe that a doctor is doing what's best for their patient. So I just really don't think you should feel bad about not having suggested PE's as a possibility. The good thing is that you are in a position to offer some unique support and comfort to them while he recovers, and for any of us who has been through PE, we know just how valuable that is.

I agree you shouldn't feel bad. We can't be all knowing and sometimes we do rely on medical advice instead of trusting our own instincts. I know that when i went to the ER they insisted after a chest xray that I had pneumonia. I said emphatically no I do NOT have pneumonia, I had no cold, no symptoms of that at all. They were determined that it was pneumonia though one dr. offered a suggestion of a pulled chest muscle. rolls eyes. I persevered in refusing to allow them to go against my own instincts and diagnose me with pneumonia and finally the MRI revealed massive multiple PE's with lung infarction. If i had listened to them I likely would've been sent home with antibiotics and died.

I definitely think it suspect about the MRSA. If that were me, I would insist on knowing how they came to that conclusion...off a chest xray alone or if they actually cultured him. It could be a good learning experience for that hospital staff to know that those symptoms are often PEs disguised as pneumonia like symptoms and need to be further investigated, especially when the symptoms don't get any better.

I was diagnosed with pneumonia the week before I my clots were found. I was sent home with antibiotics, and this was after I'd had xrays, a CT (without contrast) and a ton of blood work. The radiologist made the call. A week later I had another CT (with contrast) under the care of a respiratory specialist and the clots were fairly obvious.
My Doc was fairly candid about how difficult these things can be to diagnose, and incidently my blood work came back positive for legionella. By that time I was on my third week of antibiotics anyway. I was pretty ill but I had a lot of infarc and edema so I'm still not sure whether I had the pnuemonia or whether I had encountered legionalla in the past ,which is another scary thought!
Please don't feel bad, I guess we have to trust the medical authorities do do their job, but I think it's lovely that you care enough to show concern :)

Please don't do that to yourself. This is kind of a timely post. A few weeks ago a coworker and I were shooting the breeze and she mentioned that her mother is complaining of back pain. Her mom is a hypochondriac and so went to the ER with the pain. They gave her a muscle relaxer. The next day, her mom died of a PE. My coworker found her dead in her apartment. And then it hit me, ok, her mom just had surgery and was on warfarin for precaution due to the risk of clots. But her mom was not compliant with the warfarin. And I had back discomfort with my PE, but I never put it all together. Do I feel guilty? No. I mean, I can't be the PE police all the time. My mind just doesn't go there as much any more.

So, the fact that you didn't immediately yell, CHECK FOR PEs is a testament to your own recovery. I mean, if your PE had just happened, I think you'd have been more inclined to say something, but because it's no longer in the fore front of your mind, you just don't live in PE land 24/7, which is a GOOD thing.

Also, it's in the realm of possibility that not all symptoms of PEs are actually PEs. Clearly we know that since most of us were misdiagnosed. If it presents like pneumonia, it's plausable it could be pneumonia. My brother had a complicated case of pneumonia years ago. He was sick for a couple of months, with different treatments, would get better then get worse. He didn't have a PE.

It's a heavy responsibility to feel like we have to be the gate keepers of all things PE going forward. All we can do is be there for people, and if something sounds really strange to us mention it, if it occurs to us. We are just human, you know. I mean, holy cow if a medical professional can misdiagnose it, certainly we can over look the symptoms in someone else.

You shouldn't feel guilty at all. How could you have guessed? That's one of the things about PE--it doesn't always present with classic symptoms. I had something that was diagnosed as mycoplasmal pneumonia about a year and a half before my massive bilateral PE. Looking back, the doctors think it was probably a lot of small clots. I had back pain, chest pain, tachycardia, and a high fever. My d-dimer was around 1000, and still they didn't diagnose me correctly, and they were doctors. I also agree with rmb about it being very healthy that you are not constantly dwelling in PE-land. Stay health!

I agree ... this would have been a tough call. If the docs and the hospital think it is pneumonia, who are we to second-guess them? There are a gazillion things that can go wrong with the lungs and PEs are just one of them. I wouldn't have expected you to put the pieces together and certainly wouldn't think you should blame yourself on this one.

Besides, I think most of us have had a situation where someone has given us medical advice that was off the mark or ignorant or unwanted. Everyone wants to weigh in on health issues and a lot of the time they just don't know what they are talking about or talk about something freaky, but unlikely. Even if you HAD said something, there is no reason to expect that your co-worker would have listened and/or taken it seriously. When it comes to PEs, you know what you are talking about, but that doesn't mean it would have changed anything.

When my boss had knee surgery over the summer, I did ask how long he was supposed to lie around for and whether they were giving him anticoagulants. Because he knows how hard I've struggled with the PEs, he did talk to his doctor about clots, just to be on the safe side. But, he just as easily might not have and could have blown me off. I didn't push the issue ... just asked what the plan was. But really, I consider this a rare response. I don't think most of us listen when other folks give health advice.

Don't beat yourself up over this one. You didn't diagnose it, but you can lend your expertise and help with the recovery, if they want it.

Thanks for all the perspective.