Im really blown away by this. Thank you so much guys! You have no idea what this means, because it can be a challenge to stay optimistic at times like these. Especially considering the tests they have done have all shown nearly worst case results thus far.
Basically what happened is I was working on a deadline (long crazy hours as I normally do) with some freelance work. Everything was going well, then my leg started hurting around Tuesday. It kept getting worse and worse, and like an idiot, I just ignored it because I was too focused on my work to be bothered with it. I was actually propping my leg up on the desk I work at because it hurt a LOT less when elevated. I suspected it was a blood clot around Thursday or Friday, because I showed all the signs for clotting in the leg. My Girl Friend was really concerned and I promised her I would go into the doctors on Sunday morning. Meanwhile, every morning I woke up and walked on my leg, the pain got worse and worse. By Sunday morning when I went to the doctors it was like attempting to walk on a broken leg. It was insane how much it hurt.
So, long story short I have been in the hospital since Sunday morning, and I am still and will continue to be in the hospital till the end of the week likely (as long as they get the medication working properly). The only solution for clots is blood thinners (medication like Coumadin), but it does work extremely well in protecting you from blood clots and removing the clots you might have.
What they found was that I indeed had a clot in my leg. It was a massive clot that went from my groin area all the way down to my calve. Actually Im lucky because genetically I have two major veins in the inside of my leg which not everyone has. If I didnt have the extra vein at this point my leg would be shot. So most people get little clusters of clots, but since mine runs down the entire truck of the leg, its particularly bad as you can imagine.
Whats worse is that the clot has broken parts off that traveled to both of my lungs.This is known as a bilateral pulmonary embolism. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070408213115AA8TJFL
Anyways, this can make breathing difficult (I had this crazy episode last night were I thought I was having a heart attack) and the biggest fear is that it travels from here to either the lungs or the heart. If a substantial amount of clot travels to either of these areas, your done for Im afraid.
This actually brings up another reason I am lucky because I did have the intense pain in my leg. Some people dont have pain from blood clots and one day they just up and die. The pulmonary embolism that I have which is so leathal, I showed almost no signs of having, and if it wasnt for the pain in the leg, I would have never went to the hospital in the first place.
The good news is that my heart was checked yesterday, and its fully healthy and Im pretty sure my brain is good, or as good as its ever been, heh.
The last question would be what caused this. I spoke to a hematologist today, and he said he is confident its a genetic disorder. Especially considering my dad and his dad both had clotting problems.
Sitting for extended periods of times can also cause clots. So it doesnt help that I was at the computer for extended periods of times, but certainly the average person does not have to worry about clotting like this, especially at our age (Im 27).
Certainly, dont be dumb like me and ignore stuff like this though. Im actually lucky to be alive considering the circumstances and who knows if I would have waited just one more day. Doctors just told me though that as long as Im on the medication, I should be clear from here on out. I just got word that I will be in the hospital another 3 to 5 days. But Ill keep you posted.
Thank you all for the kind words, and words of encouragement. I truly believe this helps a lot.
BTW those game references sersiously made me LOL. Yes Adam the balls too.
Special thanks to Sef and FireBert for getting this thread running.
It's nice to hear you're feeling a bit better now Brad; it's sad to hear that such thing happened to you and I'm hoping that you will get better soon. For now, rest well and take care of yourself
Thought I would just let you guys know I'm out of the hospital now. Got out yesterday, (yeah, 8 days in the hospital is rough).
But I'm alive and well, and that's what really matters.
Anyways, I got scanned a second time about 5 days ago and there was no change in the clots in my leg. This was good in that it didn't move, but bad in that I hadn't dissolved the clot at all. So they transferred me to another hospital where they could look into surgery because it was just too risky to send me home on meds with a clot that size that was likely to move. I got to this other hospital about 4 days ago and I was there for 3 days. They performed this surgery where they go into my veins and look around and attempt to inject really strong drugs right at the clots to dissolve them. This is risky because the drugs are insanely strong.
But what happened is pretty awesome. They went in there (yesterday morning) and the clots were almost completely gone! They said that the clots might take 6 months to a year to dissolve originally, and that I might never get rid of them. Which is why I had to do surgery. But, my body dissolved them on its own in 3 days (since the last scan). The surgeon said she never saw anything like it. So, they didn't even end up injecting the drugs.
So I'm home now and pretty sore from surgery, gimping around, but all is well. I have to give myself shots in the stomach 2 times daily and take Coumadin but I'll likely be free of these pesky clots soon.
Right, you won't be hearing any more talk about clots from me now. [/bitching]
Resting up and back to work for me! Thanks for all the support!
What a relief... You went from worrying about blood clots to finding out you have wolverine-like super healing powers, Bitchen! Anyway, rest up, enjoy your free time as best you can.
He LIVES! HE LIVVVVVVVVVVEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
That's how it's done man. Glad you're feeling better!
Now get back to work dammit! Glad you had a good time on your "vacation" and all, boggling the minds of the worlds brightest doctors, but there's more awesome shit to be made!
I'm only kidding about that vacation part... hospital stays are horrendous. Glad you're back buddy!
Good to hear that your doing better dude, that sounds like a scary couple of days for sure. This kind of stuff always makes everybody around it step back, take stock and think about whats really important in their life. You are a good member of this community and I am glad that your going to be sticking around to keep the crits rollin.
Wow, glad to hear you're doing so well. As you already know, clots can be very deadly. I've heard several times, of people having them in their leg, and the hospital didn't treat it correctly, and it moved into the brain (or elsewhere) and killed the person. I'm glad to hear your doctors handled it properly. I'd still take it easy for a while, if I were you though Good to see you back
Hey Brad, just found this thread. Reading about your accident has been disheartening, but the quite prompt recovery has made it almost even. I'm very glad the outcome is good. Keep on growing, keep on rocking, but always, take care!
Replies
We're gonna need some extra space in not too long...
Basically what happened is I was working on a deadline (long crazy hours as I normally do) with some freelance work. Everything was going well, then my leg started hurting around Tuesday. It kept getting worse and worse, and like an idiot, I just ignored it because I was too focused on my work to be bothered with it. I was actually propping my leg up on the desk I work at because it hurt a LOT less when elevated. I suspected it was a blood clot around Thursday or Friday, because I showed all the signs for clotting in the leg. My Girl Friend was really concerned and I promised her I would go into the doctors on Sunday morning. Meanwhile, every morning I woke up and walked on my leg, the pain got worse and worse. By Sunday morning when I went to the doctors it was like attempting to walk on a broken leg. It was insane how much it hurt.
So, long story short I have been in the hospital since Sunday morning, and I am still and will continue to be in the hospital till the end of the week likely (as long as they get the medication working properly). The only solution for clots is blood thinners (medication like Coumadin), but it does work extremely well in protecting you from blood clots and removing the clots you might have.
What they found was that I indeed had a clot in my leg. It was a massive clot that went from my groin area all the way down to my calve. Actually Im lucky because genetically I have two major veins in the inside of my leg which not everyone has. If I didnt have the extra vein at this point my leg would be shot. So most people get little clusters of clots, but since mine runs down the entire truck of the leg, its particularly bad as you can imagine.
Whats worse is that the clot has broken parts off that traveled to both of my lungs.This is known as a bilateral pulmonary embolism. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070408213115AA8TJFL
Anyways, this can make breathing difficult (I had this crazy episode last night were I thought I was having a heart attack) and the biggest fear is that it travels from here to either the lungs or the heart. If a substantial amount of clot travels to either of these areas, your done for Im afraid.
This actually brings up another reason I am lucky because I did have the intense pain in my leg. Some people dont have pain from blood clots and one day they just up and die. The pulmonary embolism that I have which is so leathal, I showed almost no signs of having, and if it wasnt for the pain in the leg, I would have never went to the hospital in the first place.
The good news is that my heart was checked yesterday, and its fully healthy and Im pretty sure my brain is good, or as good as its ever been, heh.
The last question would be what caused this. I spoke to a hematologist today, and he said he is confident its a genetic disorder. Especially considering my dad and his dad both had clotting problems.
Sitting for extended periods of times can also cause clots. So it doesnt help that I was at the computer for extended periods of times, but certainly the average person does not have to worry about clotting like this, especially at our age (Im 27).
Certainly, dont be dumb like me and ignore stuff like this though. Im actually lucky to be alive considering the circumstances and who knows if I would have waited just one more day. Doctors just told me though that as long as Im on the medication, I should be clear from here on out. I just got word that I will be in the hospital another 3 to 5 days. But Ill keep you posted.
Thank you all for the kind words, and words of encouragement. I truly believe this helps a lot.
BTW those game references sersiously made me LOL. Yes Adam the balls too.
Special thanks to Sef and FireBert for getting this thread running.
Get well soon!
EDIT: Yes they did.
Carry on.
Thought I would just let you guys know I'm out of the hospital now. Got out yesterday, (yeah, 8 days in the hospital is rough).
But I'm alive and well, and that's what really matters.
Anyways, I got scanned a second time about 5 days ago and there was no change in the clots in my leg. This was good in that it didn't move, but bad in that I hadn't dissolved the clot at all. So they transferred me to another hospital where they could look into surgery because it was just too risky to send me home on meds with a clot that size that was likely to move. I got to this other hospital about 4 days ago and I was there for 3 days. They performed this surgery where they go into my veins and look around and attempt to inject really strong drugs right at the clots to dissolve them. This is risky because the drugs are insanely strong.
But what happened is pretty awesome. They went in there (yesterday morning) and the clots were almost completely gone! They said that the clots might take 6 months to a year to dissolve originally, and that I might never get rid of them. Which is why I had to do surgery. But, my body dissolved them on its own in 3 days (since the last scan). The surgeon said she never saw anything like it. So, they didn't even end up injecting the drugs.
So I'm home now and pretty sore from surgery, gimping around, but all is well. I have to give myself shots in the stomach 2 times daily and take Coumadin but I'll likely be free of these pesky clots soon.
Right, you won't be hearing any more talk about clots from me now. [/bitching]
Resting up and back to work for me! Thanks for all the support!
Glad that all went well.
About the computer work and working out to help prevent this... i might have the perfect solution!
[ame]
That's how it's done man. Glad you're feeling better!
Now get back to work dammit! Glad you had a good time on your "vacation" and all, boggling the minds of the worlds brightest doctors, but there's more awesome shit to be made!
I'm only kidding about that vacation part... hospital stays are horrendous. Glad you're back buddy!
Brad 1 - Clot 0
a good bit of work to do to get back to 'normal'.
The clot that went to the lungs or something?
Anyways, i'm glad you are allright