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Blood clots in the Lungs

Posted , 7 users are following.

jen86183
jen86183

Hi,

I am posting this for people to be aware of developing blood clots in the lungs. We are told about pain/tenderness, in the legs, warm to the touch etc., but, signs are different.

I am 8 weeks post THR, 61 fit and healthy, do not take any medication. There appears to be a lot of people coughing at the moment (by me anyway) so when out on my daily walk late last week, I began to slow up a bit and I felt a bit chesty, thought I was catching a cold without the coughing or phlegm and still went out as normal.

I had been asleep for about an hour monday night when I was woken at 1.30am by a bad pain on my right side below the breast, took paracetamol and managed to sleep after a bit.

Went to the doctors in the morning and he said he was bothered it might be a blood clot although at 8 weeks and being active it is unusual, he sent me for an x-ray and said if the pain gets worse to go the hospital or he could send me straight away, his secretary rang me about luchtime, she said how are you, he is worried about you. To be honest the pain got a lot better during the day, went up to bed about 10.45 went to sit on the bed and then pain was really bad, tried to lie down but could not, all around the upper body, the pain was excruiating. Hubby called an ambulance which can in about 10 mins and 4 hours later I saw a doctor! now the really strange thing was the pain swopped sides!!! This was a complete mystery to everyone I saw.

It was impossible to breath in without pain, after a CT scan yesterday the doctor said yes, you have clots in the lungs and that has caused a bit of the lung to collapse, which will recover, he also said it is likely the clot started on the right side then moved to the left, they had no other explaination for the pain swichting sides. I do wonder now if that may have been why the pain was all over when I tried to sit then lie down.

Now it is 3 months of apixaban tablets and hoping all will be well and the clots disperse naturally.

Please be aware of any feeling in the chest area, however minor it seems.

7 likes, 20 replies

20 Replies

  • m05
    m05 jen86183

    Posted

    Thank you for posting this it really is something we all need to be aware of . Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
  • m05
    m05 jen86183

    Posted

    Hi again out of intrest what was your post op blood thinning regime I know NICE guidlines have changed recently and the cynic in me says it is to cut costs for the NHS.
    • jen86183
      jen86183 m05

      Posted

      Hi m05,

      I had to have 28 days of fragmin injections. The doctor I saw yesterday said he will write to my orthopedic surgeon (same hospital) and explain the situation, it will go on the record and they might, depending on how many people have had clots reported increase the length of time blood thinners are taken.

    • AlexandriaGizmo
      AlexandriaGizmo jen86183

      Posted

      Hi Jen glad to hear your on the mend, 28 days is not long, my friend is still on them 6 weeks after knee replacement, not sure it it different with hip though
  • ptolemy
    ptolemy jen86183

    Posted

    The hospital and my orthopaedic surgeon were paranoid about a pulmonary embolism. Anti coagulants, compression socks, deep breathing etc etc. Were you not told about it? I thought all hospitals were worried about it.
    • jen86183
      jen86183 ptolemy

      Posted

      We were only given the 28 days of fragmin no compression stocking, we had a foot pump for the 2 nights in hospital, so I assumed you did not need them for a hip. My hubby was given them for his knee a few years ago.
  • philip20437
    philip20437 jen86183

    Posted

    Thanks for that Jen

    It's frightening to think this could happen at 8 weeks post op especially when you are active, it just goes to show it's a long time before we are out of the woods, I myself got a wound infection at 8 weeks due to an internal stitch going funny. Hope all goes well for you from now on.

  • kelly03906
    kelly03906 jen86183

    Posted

    Hi jen.

    Sorry to hear about this. Best wishes for a speedy recovery and thank you for sharing this information..

    I had 2 fragmin injections whilst i was in hospital then apixaban tablets for a month. I wore the "sexy" stockings for 6 weeks and when doing exercises concentrated on deep breathing as well. The booklet that I was given pre-op of the op, what to do or not do , exercises etc highlighted about breathing. When I went out on my many walks, as it was in the country, it was lovely taking in deep breaths of country air!

    Take care and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

    • jen86183
      jen86183 kelly03906

      Posted

      Hi kelly,

      I might buy some compression stockings as being out of breath I cannot go on my daily walks at the moment, I know it is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted but, they may come in handy in the future. It looks like the he hip will go on the back burner for a bit.

    • kelly03906
      kelly03906 jen86183

      Posted

      I did find that they helped. I was given 2 pairs from the hospital and i bought a 3rd pair from the same company.

      Good luck x

  • lyn1951
    lyn1951 jen86183

    Posted

    I too had blood clots in the days before my surgery, of course surgery cancelled until cleared up, put on Xalrelto, as warfarin was not going to suit due to other drugs I was on.

    Also tested for natural blood clotting, apparently some of us clot much easier than others, as I understand its an enzyme some of us have and others don't, everybody should be tested for this prior to surgery my Dr said, but often does not happen.

    I was in the clear with this particular test, just lack of being able to move.

    Wheelchair bound, as joint had ground a hole in my pelvis, blame GP as he just kept giving me painkillers for years rather than looking into why I was in so much pain, and even when he found out, letter to the hospital told them that I had OA rather than how severe, specialist told me in no uncertain terms to fire my GP.

     

    • jen86183
      jen86183 lyn1951

      Posted

      Hi lyn,

      I actually think you were brave to have an operation as you had blood clots prior to having it. I would definately not have gone through with it.

      I may have had pain, walked like a penguin pre thr but I was healthy and was able to exercise everyday which did help manage the pain that is why this is a bolt out of the blue.

      As all my pre op tests were fine nothing wrong at all, something one of the doctors said is also ringing alarm bells. She said my liver was showing signs of fatty liver disease which was not there in the pre op blood tests. I am wondering what drugs they have given me that is causing the damage.

      It is nice to have level legs and no pain from the hip but would I have had the thr if I thought this could happen, that would be a definate no. I had resisted for many years and it was my hubby pushing me to have it.

    • lyn1951
      lyn1951 jen86183

      Posted

      I had no choice about hip replacement, as the specialist said to me, I should have had it five years previous.

      Hard to remember now, but could not leave the house, husband who has major heart condition doing everything, could not walk without extreme pain, could not sleep at night, I was in soooo much pain.

      After seeing the specialist I was given some pain patches, a version of morphine which actually gave me some relief, and I then went swimming in the local heated pool, oh the relief, but getting out again the pain hit.

      My surgery was done with spinal block, an hours later sitting up in recovery area with the nurses asking me if I would like a cup of tea.

      Many of my family have had hip replacements, and I knew from observing them that although the immediate surgery and slow recovery time are challenging, their normal life had been returned to them, as it has with me, what I had before surgery was not normal.

      I was a little unusual as my femur or what was left of it had ground a hole in my pelvis opposite, and I went into surgery not knowing for sure if I was going to need a bone graft, the surgeon was very careful to explain to me the site where the donor bone was coming from maybe more painful then I expected.

      Lucky people in Edinburgh, as my surgeon was out in Australia doing a fellowship and has since returned to Scotland, I cannot praise how good this man was, with a sense of humor, he got an enourmous hug from me at 12 weeks after my surgery for giving me my life back.

    • jen86183
      jen86183 lyn1951

      Posted

      I am really pleased it has worked out for you and life is so much better now, how long ago was your hip operation. As you can imagine I am not in the best of moods at the moment. Besides the liver problem, the ECG was not right, I am hoping that was because I could not breath in properly due to pain. Going from healthy to this in a week is scary.
    • lyn1951
      lyn1951 jen86183

      Posted

      2nd hip replacement just over 2 years ago, 1st one 15 months previous.

      Re your pre-op tests, they are not looking for liver issues, so it would have been picked up as a problem, for Hip surgery, usually does not cause any problems as I understand it, I also have fatty liver or so I am am told. picked up in cat scan for ruptured disc in back, Dr has never really said anything about it.

      If you could not breathe properly, it would have shown as an issue in ECG, our lungs and heart are all closely linked, if you have an issue with one, you also have an issue with the other, follow up ECG when you are better would be the correct thing to do, just bet the issue on ECG is gone.

      Wondered about the lack of being able to lie down, been there and done that, some time ago, diagnosed a water in the same sack as heart, peri-carditis, apparently can be serious if ignored, given a very large dose of anti-inflammation  injections and then tablets for a couple of weeks, Dr's diagnoses was virus.

    • jen86183
      jen86183 lyn1951

      Posted

      The fatty liver was an off hand comment made by a doctor before I had CT scan, just thought it was odd, she said it was not there in pre op tests so, they must look at everything. You have one thing and it leads to others, they are giving an echo test in 3 months because the ECG perfect in pre op, now has a problem on it, although I do think that was because being so painul to breath in they could not get proper readings.

      First thing I have ever had done medically and it has caused problems. I can definately say never again.

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