Marc saw the doctor yesterday and she said is what ok...until he told her the length of the bus trip, at which point she seemed unsure and nervous. Also his blood is low and that worries me a bit, it hasn't been low in a long time. Anyways we agreed that if the doctor did not give the ok and sounded 100% sure about it we would not go. She said it might be ok if he wears two stockings but even then it wasn't 100%. We do not, I DO NOT need to have someone else in the hospital. We are a little sad that we can't go, we wanted to see family and our little niece (we couldn't wait to see her! She's at that age, over 6 months, where they are a lot of fun). We were going to bring her some gifts (cause she needs to be spoiled by her aunt and uncle) but now we are going to mail them over. The shipping is not too bad so we just need to agree on what to send her lol.
Maybe in a year his leg will be a little better and traveling for long periods will not be that bad. We could have taken the plane but it was too much, and I have never been out there (never been past Toronto) so taking the bus sounded more appealing. Marc and I also like long road trips together :)
Marc decided he is going to get a dehumidifer (I hope that is spelled right), our place gets really humid in the summer and apparently this can help. We don't mind the heat, it's the humidity that is killer. Thing is they are not cheap and we are hesitant to spend almost 300$ on something that may not work well or break down.
The hunt is on!
Showing posts with label DVT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DVT. Show all posts
11 March 2011
DVT Awareness month
is March!
I did not know this. I was actually surprised it had an awareness month, but I am glad too. People need to be informed it could save your life or someone you love.
There are many articles online about it or you can always talk to your doctor.
Stay informed!
I did not know this. I was actually surprised it had an awareness month, but I am glad too. People need to be informed it could save your life or someone you love.
There are many articles online about it or you can always talk to your doctor.
Stay informed!
11 August 2010
What is DVT?
DVT: Deep Vein Thrombosis.
It is a blood clot found in deep veins in the leg or pelvis area. Sometimes it can appear in arms. In Marcs case he had a constant muscle cramp feeling in his right leg, and the leg grew to twice it's normal size. He had trouble walking and on the Sunday that is when we went to the hospital.
You can get DVT from having surgery, being obese, traveling for long distances, certain drugs or already being at risk for clots.
The clot can dislodge and travel to the lungs causing a pulmonary embolism. It can be fatal. Doctors do not always want to remove it because it can cause parts of the clot to dislodge or the whole thing can move. Most times it is treated with blood thinner. In Marcs case he was told that the vein would be unrepairable, his leg would always swell up and he can be at risk for another clot.
Doctors find the clot using ultrasounds and they detect it with blood tests. They either put the patient on heparin-shots that are given in the stomach or they put them on blood thinner pills (cumadin, warfarin). They start with the shots first to stabilize and then work from there. It takes many blood tests to get the right dosage of blood thinner. Marcs blood had to be between 2.0 and 3.0.
Usually if you get more than one clot they put you on blood thinner for the rest of your life. In Marcs case, although he only had one clot so far, he may be on the blood thinner forever because of his damaged vein.
Compression stockings. They have helped so much! He has to get thigh high ones because the clot was found behind the knee (maybe he can get knee high ones now but we wont know until August). They can be a pain in the summer when it's really hot and he wont wear shorts. He has just started to go out in flip flops. I don't know if i would be able to wear anything but pants if i needed a compression stocking. They aren't the prettiest things out there, but they help.
Marc goes in for another ultrasound on August 5th and then see's the doctor the next day. Hopefully the good news will continue!
It is a blood clot found in deep veins in the leg or pelvis area. Sometimes it can appear in arms. In Marcs case he had a constant muscle cramp feeling in his right leg, and the leg grew to twice it's normal size. He had trouble walking and on the Sunday that is when we went to the hospital.
You can get DVT from having surgery, being obese, traveling for long distances, certain drugs or already being at risk for clots.
The clot can dislodge and travel to the lungs causing a pulmonary embolism. It can be fatal. Doctors do not always want to remove it because it can cause parts of the clot to dislodge or the whole thing can move. Most times it is treated with blood thinner. In Marcs case he was told that the vein would be unrepairable, his leg would always swell up and he can be at risk for another clot.
Doctors find the clot using ultrasounds and they detect it with blood tests. They either put the patient on heparin-shots that are given in the stomach or they put them on blood thinner pills (cumadin, warfarin). They start with the shots first to stabilize and then work from there. It takes many blood tests to get the right dosage of blood thinner. Marcs blood had to be between 2.0 and 3.0.
Usually if you get more than one clot they put you on blood thinner for the rest of your life. In Marcs case, although he only had one clot so far, he may be on the blood thinner forever because of his damaged vein.
Compression stockings. They have helped so much! He has to get thigh high ones because the clot was found behind the knee (maybe he can get knee high ones now but we wont know until August). They can be a pain in the summer when it's really hot and he wont wear shorts. He has just started to go out in flip flops. I don't know if i would be able to wear anything but pants if i needed a compression stocking. They aren't the prettiest things out there, but they help.
Marc goes in for another ultrasound on August 5th and then see's the doctor the next day. Hopefully the good news will continue!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)