Damn, Getting Old Sucks! (Ended up in the ER Last Night w/Blood Clots in my lungs)

[Jer]

That's right, plural. I had some pain deep in my chest inside of my lower ribs and thought maybe it was some trapped gas or some weird spleen inflammation or some such crap Sunday night. Went to bed, got up the next day and went work. The next morning at work the pain returned and was a little more intense so I took some Ibuprofen. It took the edge off so I continued going about my day until sometime in the afternoon when the pain started coming back when the Ibuprofen wore off so I took another dose and didn't think much of it. That was until about 9:30 when it wore off again and I had a hard time getting comfortable sitting on the couch watching TV with the wife. We got up to go to bed around 10:00ish and that's when the pain came on strong. Every time I breathed it hurt and prevented me from getting a breath. It was somewhat like that the last 24hrs or so but this time it didn't take much of a breath in before the pain caused my to stop. I was having a hard time getting air and was doubled over in pain because it hurt to sit, stand, lay down or do anything else. Leaning against the bed doubled over was my only play and even then it was taking concentration to slow down my breathing and get some air in my lungs. I was getting light headed and in a lot of pain and it was time to go to the ER.

Once we got to the ER (MCR) they got me in quickly and took it very serious. The Medical Center of the Rockies entire team was amazing. I can't say enough good things about every single person we came into contact with there. I hope you never need to go to an ER but if you do and it's MCR count your lucky stars because you'll be in good hands.

First thing they did was get some blood to test for heart attack. This came back flawless save for one category which is the one that indicates to a potential blood clot. Time for chest x-rays and CT scans. Slow night in the ER and all results came back quickly. The ER doc came back in and had a worried look as he sat down to explain to me what was bothering him. I had several blood clots lodged in my lunges and the condition was (and remains) life threatening. Blood thinners were immediately introduced and while he was apprehensive about letting me leave, he indicated that due to the fact that every other single category was flawless he was alright with me leaving with some stipulations. I have no doubt that my lack of health insurance and concern over cost helped to sway his judgement because I feel as though if I had health insurance I'd still be in that hospital. I'm glad I was healthy enough to have an option because I much rather be released if it's not eminently dangerous to do so.

The doctor was baffled on why I even was dealing with this. Of the risk factors for blood clots I checked none of the boxes. I see some specialists this week and one of the tasks will be to see if I have some sort of underlying issue that could trigger this again. It's just kind of odd and part of me is thankful for the pain I'm still feeling currently as it's what probably kept me alive. Had I not been in quite as much pain last night and just took some more ibuprofen and went to bed I may not be here typing this right now. I'm still far from out of the woods but hopeful that my treatment will prove effective and I'll be back to normal in no time. Whatever 'normal' means to me now. I have a feeling things are going to change moving forward.

So I'm now resting at home and took the day off of work. I was still planning to go in but I think I underestimated just how bad I am right now. I think I'll maybe even take the rest of the week off. On that subject, I started my new job about a month ago and my new health insurance doesn't kick in for a month or two. Wonderful. Now I get to look forward to seeing what this bill is going to run. Yikes!

I know most of you don't have fecesbook so I thought I'd post a heads up both as an informative post but also as a warning that can hopefully help someone else.

In lieu of sending get well soon cards please send firearms. They help to sooth my soul.

[Irving]

I was just wondering where you've been. Sorry to hear that it was the ER. How do you get clear of this issue so it's not always hanging over your head?

[rondog]

Damn, son! Take care o' yerself ya hear?

[Jer]

I was just wondering where you've been. Sorry to hear that it was the ER. How do you get clear of this issue so it's not always hanging over your head?

I started a new job and have been pretty busy lately trying to balance out my first job in years with working out and then married life with two elderly dogs.

As to how I get clear of this issue... I dunno. One of my buddies has a brother who had a clot in his lung was on blood thinners for 6mos and got a bill of good health. He's been off of the thinners for years and hasn't had an issue since. Another person I know had a series of blood clot issues and has to be on blood thinners for the rest of their lives. Meanwhile my other friend has lost two friends fairly recently to blood clots in their lungs. Just because I've been diagnosed and am in treatment (mostly just blood thinners & such) it doesn't mean I'm out of the woods yet. I can still go at any moment which is a nice break to think about between the pain. lol I'm not really sure how this is going to look moving forward but I know that I'm going to give it my all in an attempt to return to normalcy as soon as possible. This isn't fun.

[cmailliard]

If you ended up in to OR you would probably run into my wife. Hope it all works out, pay attention to the signs and symptoms and if they even hint at a return get back in. For sure take some time off, let your body recover.

You said it was deep pain, was it diffuse or pinpoint (draw a circle around it or point right at it)? Sounds like it hurt when you took a breath, how about when you or the doc pushed on your chest? These very simple things can tell you if you are having cardiac chest pain or pleuritic chest pain. When it comes to chest pain it can be several things but the biggies are cardiac or respiratory. Your signs and symptoms point to respiratory, which obviously is the case. Either way if the pain is bad enough, get into the hospital. It's amazing what a good assessment can tell you, even without fancy machines. Unfortunately the art of the assessment has gone downhill in recent years.

Get some rest and try not to wait so long next time.

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

get well soon.

[cmailliard]

Public Service Announcement

Most of the causes of blood clots are from Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib). Your Atriums are not contracting normally but they are fibrillating (quivering), same thing your ventricles do in V-Fib (you are alive when this is happening). With A-Fib since the blood is not being completely ejected into the ventricles some stays in the atrium, it eventually clots and then gets pushed though the system (lungs, heart, brain are the bad sports for it stop). You can feel A-Fib in your pulse, if your pulse is irregularly irregular, meaning there is absolutely no patten to your pulse, it is most likely A-Fib.

VIDEO on A-FIB a little technical but easy to follow.

[Sawin]

Dang dude, I am sorry to hear this news! Although I am certainly glad to hear it from you and not "about" you in the past-tense kind of way! What did the Doc say about alcohol? I've always heard it thins your blood.

I hope you recover quickly and never have a recurrence.

[Bailey Guns]

Best wishes for a full recovery, Jer.

[vossman]

Craziness Jer. Glad you got it diagnosed quick.