GWS ColinJ.. DVT/Pulmonary Embolism

[Smurfy]

Interesting article in the Daily Mail on Deep Vein Thrombosis and sitting down.

Best get out for a quick 35 miles tomorrow, rather than sitting down all day!

Maybe I should start giving blood again too, as I haven't been for a few years, and donating is supposed to thin the blood.

 

[ColinJ]

Interesting article in the Daily Mail on Deep Vein Thrombosis and sitting down.

My GPs were a bit more on the ball than that woman's, but I made the mistake of downplaying my symptoms which delayed my trip to hospital by over a week and could have resulted in my death!

Perhaps I just wasn't paying attention before I got ill, but the only things I heard about the risks of DVT were when flying, and the suggestion to take regular breaks from the computer.

 

[coffeejo]

My GPs were a bit more on the ball than that woman's, but I made the mistake of downplaying my symptoms which delayed my trip to hospital by over a week and could have resulted in my death!

Perhaps I just wasn't paying attention before I got ill, but the only things I heard about the risks of DVT were when flying, and the suggestion to take regular breaks from the computer.

One of my friends just had twins via caesarian and now has DVT. She's got to have daily injections for the next three months.

 

[ColinJ]

One of my friends just had twins via caesarian and now has DVT. She's got to have daily injections for the next three months.

Sorry to hear that cj. When I was in hospital, everbody got daily Heparin injections as a precaution against clotting but they took me off them once the Warfarin pills had started to work. They will probably do the same for her, surely?

 

[ColinJ]

PS I wasn't calling you Shirley!

 

[coffeejo]

Sorry to hear that cj. When I was in hospital, everbody got daily Heparin injections as a precaution against clotting but they took me off them once the Warfarin pills had started to work. They will probably do the same for her, surely?

To be honest, I don't know. This is her first successful pregnancy after a long series of miscarriages so, naturally, they're far more focussed on having their boys safely snuggled up at home.

PS I wasn't calling you Shirley!

I suspect I've missed something, so I'll forgive you. Just this once.

 

[ColinJ]

To be honest, I don't know. This is her first successful pregnancy after a long series of miscarriages so, naturally, they're far more focussed on having their boys safely snuggled up at home.

I suspect I've missed something, so I'll forgive you. Just this once.

Er ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo7qoonzTCE

 

[coffeejo]

You're a bad, bad, BAD man and I can't wait til you're better so I can and and

 

[gb155]

Hurry up and get well, I'm back in tod and now I've a bike again too:0)

 

[ColinJ]

Hurry up and get well, I'm back in tod and now I've a bike again too:0)

Ooh, is it one of your original ones or have you cobbled one together from donated parts?

As for riding together ... I'd not only have to get back on a bike, I'd also have to get fit enough to keep up with you! Perhaps we need a handicapping system, like you having to tow a trailer with 20 kg of bottled water in it***?

*** A mate once asked why I was so slow on the climbs on our Costa Blanca cycling holiday. We were coming back from a supermarket at the time, both of us carrying a 5 litre bottle of water in each hand. I handed him my 2 bottles and told him to imagine climbing with that total amount of extra weight on his body as fat!

 

[Manonabike]

I just saw this thread so I had no idea you were unwell.

I've read that you are out of hospital and on the mend.... good to hear that and I hope you get well very very soon.

 

[gb155]

Ooh, is it one of your original ones or have you cobbled one together from donated parts?

As for riding together ... I'd not only have to get back on a bike, I'd also have to get fit enough to keep up with you! Perhaps we need a handicapping system, like you having to tow a trailer with 20 kg of bottled water in it***?

*** A mate once asked why I was so slow on the climbs on our Costa Blanca cycling holiday. We were coming back from a supermarket at the time, both of us carrying a 5 litre bottle of water in each hand. I handed him my 2 bottles and told him to imagine climbing with that total amount of extra weight on his body as fat!

It's been 18 days since I last cycled, so I'll not be quick for a while :0)

 

[ColinJ]

It's been 18 days since I last cycled, so I'll not be quick for a while :0)

I think I will be lucky to be back on a bike within 18 weeks ...

 

[gb155]

I think I will be lucky to be back on a bike within 18 weeks ...

Ouch

Maybe I'll be back this week, but I'm now struggling with man flu :]

 

[ColinJ]

Hi gang - it's me again with another "I'm not dead yet, and those of you with similar health problems might find this information useful" report!

The setback I mentioned in a recent post was actually worse than I thought it was at the time. I felt pretty poorly off and on for several days and started to feel very scared again. The thing is, the symptoms are pretty similar to having a heart attack - stabbing pains in the chest, feeling weak and ill, shortness of breath ...

I knew that if I contacted a doctor then they were 99% likely to send me back to hospital - what else could they do? If they told me not to worry, it was the kind of thing that recovering Pulmonary Embolism patients suffer but then it turned out that I actually had had a heart attack, then they could end up in all kinds of trouble. It therefore seemed to me a case of deciding for myself whether I wanted to go back to hospital or not. I decided to take a chance and see how I felt after a night's sleep.

I still felt rough the next day, but less intensely so. I decided to go online and see if I could find people with the same problem as me - PulmonaryEmbolismChat, if you like! It didn't take me long, and what I read was very reassuring - it is apparently extremely common for this kind of thing to happen. One American patient had been in and out of her local 'emergency room' (A & E) about 10 times with similar symptoms over a period of months. In the end, the medics told her to try and relax and sent her home with anti-anxiety medication!

In case anybody reading this has similar health problems to me, take a look at the Pulmonary Embolism Support Group on DailyStrength.org. There is a wealth of experience there.

And now the good news ...

I had a chat with the Warfarin nurse when she took my last blood sample. She asked how much exercise I was doing and told me she thought that I should be doing more than I was. Not going crazy and trying to walk for miles, but making an effort to get to my feet and move around more often. I've been trying to do that.

I got over my bad patch, and have started improving again. Several times, I have managed to walk to the shops, do my shopping and walk home again without being forced to sit down and rest on the way. I'm also able to stand in the kitchen long enough to make simple meals, do the washing up and so on. I don't have to keep sitting down every 30 seconds or so. It may not sound much, but it was a damn nuisance when I could only manage to stand for half a minute at a time!

The friend who helped me so much when I got ill, has been poorly herself this week. Nothing serious - just a bad cold and a sore leg, but enough to knock the stuffing out of her. It was great feeling well enough to go and shop for her instead of having to have her shop for me!

The results of my latest blood test came through. My INR has stabilised so I can carry on eating my healthy greens since I am having enough Warfarin to balance out the clotting effect of the vitamin k in them. I also only need a blood test once a month now - hooray!

I'm seeing the chest consultant at the end of the month and hopefully he will be satisfied with my progress.

So - a forum walk is still some way off, and a forum ride a distance dream, but ... I'm slowly getting there!