A big thank you to Colin J!

[Pat "5mph"]

@ColinJ, a big thank you

I know that in the past you have been virtually roll-eyed by CC, sometimes in a merciless fashion
All because of your propensity to see DVT allover the place, then proceeding to minutely describe causes and effects of the condition.
Well, you have probably saved my best friends life: she was showing the symptoms you have often described, I told her to go to hospital immediately.
She got a leg scan, but was told no blockage, given two injections of blood thinners, though.
After a couple of days, the symptoms came back.
I told her to go back to hospital immediately, tell them she has DVT.
I told her to lie, to tell the Docs that she knows she's got DVT because she had it before - I remembered this from one of your posts, Colin
Right enough, one more through examination revealed a vein blockage, not the main artery, but, still, a vein.
Also the blockage was traveling.
She is now on tablet blood thinners prescribed for 6 weeks, knows how to keep an eye on the affected area, knows to go to hospital immediately if the blockage travels further.
My friend and I, we are not people that go to the doctor for small stuff.
She was shrugging the painful, swollen leg off as one of these things, the shortness of breath as tiredness from work, I urged her to go to hospital immediately after she told me about those symptoms.
She was very surprised I knew so much about DVT

 

[MartinQ]

@ColinJ, a big thank you

I know that in the past you have been virtually roll-eyed by CC, sometimes in a merciless fashion
All because of your propensity to see DVT allover the place, then proceeding to minutely describe causes and effects of the condition.
Well, you have probably saved my best friends life: she was showing the symptoms you have often described, I told her to go to hospital immediately.
She got a leg scan, but was told no blockage, given two injections of blood thinners, though.
After a couple of days, the symptoms came back.
I told her to go back to hospital immediately, tell them she has DVT.
I told her to lie, to tell the Docs that she knows she's got DVT because she had it before - I remembered this from one of your posts, Colin
Right enough, one more through examination revealed a vein blockage, not the main artery, but, still, a vein.
Also the blockage was traveling.
She is now on tablet blood thinners prescribed for 6 weeks, knows how to keep an eye on the affected area, knows to go to hospital immediately if the blockage travels further.
My friend and I, we are not people that go to the doctor for small stuff.
She was shrugging the painful, swollen leg off as one of these things, the shortness of breath as tiredness from work, I urged her to go to hospital immediately after she told me about those symptoms.
She was very surprised I knew so much about DVT

Did she mention the shortness of breath? Sounds like she should be checked for PEs?
Treatment is the same, but it is useful to get it on her record if it happens again in the future.

 

[postman]

Well done Pat well done Colin and well done your pal.

 

[ColinJ]

Wow, thanks for telling me that, Pat! (smiley for being useful, NOT for sick friend!!!)

I KNOW that I went on about my experience a lot, and probably too much, and irritated and bored a lot of people on CycleChat. BUT, I also know that DVT/PE is a killer and surprisingly little known to those who have not had someone they know suffer from it. That was made very clear to me when I told @potsy what was wrong with me. I had to explain to him what a DVT is!

I said to myself that if I went on about it enough then sooner or later I would read a post like this and... quite frankly, if I could play my part in helping to save even just one life, then being annoying was a price that I was happy to pay!

 

[Drago]

That is an excellent good news story Pat.

Now, if Dirk would educate us in detail about is prolapsed ring piece then next time it happens to someone we know we'll be able to pretend we didn't see anything and run away

 

[ColinJ]

Did she mention the shortness of breath? Sounds like she should be checked for PEs?
Treatment is the same, but it is useful to get it on her record if it happens again in the future.

True, but if she has a PE then 6 weeks isn't going to be long enough for the treatment. In fact, I would want more than that just for the DVT!

I think 3 months is typical for a first DVT and 6 months for DVT/PE. I got 8 months before being taken off warfarin, but only lasted about 4 months after that before getting ill again.

 

[Drago]

My hero, Ian Anderson, is a DVT survivor.

 

[ColinJ]

My hero, Ian Anderson, is a DVT survivor.

There are a lot of us about, and (unfortunately) lots who are no longer about!

Serena Williams has had DVT/PE twice.

I got chatting to one nurse who was taking a blood sample from me. She had been doing some gardening with her husband when she suddenly felt ill. Fortunately, she immediately recognised the symptoms of DVT/PE. She asked hubby to get the car out. He asked why and she told him that she had better get to A&E immediately or she might be in serious trouble. Sure enough, she was riddled with clots. She too got ill a second time and is on meds for life.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

True, but if she has a PE then 6 weeks isn't going to be long enough for the treatment. In fact, I would want more than that just for the DVT!

I think 3 months is typical for a first DVT and 6 months for DVT/PE. I got 8 months before being taken off warfarin, but only lasted about 4 months after that before getting ill again.

She is now being monitored.
She has been told by the docs to go to hospital immediately if something changes or if the blockage travels.
Hers is not on a main artery, the docs guess the affected vein will soon die off.
She is aware that even if it clears it could come back, because I read this on one of Colin's posts!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

@ColinJ it's dawning on me that my OP got many likes, it should really be you getting them
You're my hero

 

[classic33]

I liked the first post, because something you read on here stuck in your head. That meant that you were able to help someone else.

 

[Beebo]

What? @ColinJ had DVT.
Why did he never mention it. 😀




In all seriousness he hasn’t mentioned it for a while and I had almost forgotten, so thanks for the reminder and recap.

 

[ColinJ]

She is now being monitored.
She has been told by the docs to go to hospital immediately if something changes or if the blockage travels.
Hers is not on a main artery, the docs guess the affected vein will soon die off.
She is aware that even if it clears it could come back, because I read this on one of Colin's posts!

You are getting the plumbing mixed up!

The arteries take oxygen-rich blood from the heart and lungs out into the body. Veins bring the blood back to complete the cycle. The ones that normally clot in DVTs are the big veins coming back up the legs, although it is possible to get DVTs in the arms and elsewhere. The D in DVT is for DEEP, so the clot is in a big vein deep in the leg (wherever).

It is also possible to get clots in smaller veins nearer the surface - that is called superficial thrombophlebitis. That can be extremely painful, but because the veins are so small the clots usually don't get far enough to cause serious problems, although in rare cases they can!

I think that I developed superficial thrombophlebitis before I developed my original DVT. I did 2 or 3 forum rides earlier that year and experienced agonising pains in my legs. It felt like somebody was stabbing my thighs with a large knife. There may be a few other CycleChat members who were with me on those rides in spring 2012 who can remember me screaming in pain!

If your friend has a DVT then the vein will not 'die off', or she would lose a leg or actually die! She could probably afford to lose a few superficial veins though.

What? @ColinJ had DVT.
Why did he never mention it. 😀
...
In all seriousness he hasn’t mentioned it for a while and I had almost forgotten, so thanks for the reminder and recap.

Ha ha!

I have tried to cut down, but I do still post on the subject where I think I can be useful. We actually have THIS thread running at the moment!

 

[ColinJ]

I share your pain @ColinJ I have had both a PE and a DVT. Am now on thinners for life. Indebted to our much maligned NHS for diagnosing and treating the PE efficiently.

@Pat "5mph" yours friends travel insurance will now go up in large increments!!

Oh - I haven't actually travelled abroad since getting ill. I hadn't considered that issue!

 

[ColinJ]

Bad luck, Roger!

Yes, the NHS certainly generally do a very good job. One GP failed to spot my problem, but everybody that dealt with me after that helped to save me. And of course (apart from prescription charges until I was 60) it hasn't cost me a penny!