Some Christmas Present

You won't guess where I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day......Hospital.
On Thursday I was doing a plumbing jobby on the water connected to the house. The area I was working is just under the house where the tank water pump meets the pipework to take the water in the house. The pump is where it is so it won't freeze in winter. Anyway I had to work on my belly and needed to tramp back and forth to the shed for a few things. I found that when I walked to the shed I was breathless and had to wait maybe 5 minutes before I could start work again. Every trip was taking longer and longer. I had to keep going with the task in hand so the water would be connected to run the house.

I sat in the shade with a cool drink with the wife while we discussed my breathing problem. I had had this phenome nor some years ago (2014) which led to a week in hospital with a blood clot on my lung and a long coarse of Wooferin to control it. With the water back on I had a shower and had tea then saddled up for a visit to Emergency Dept at Tamworth Hospital at 9pm. Even though a dozen or so qued in front of me the whisked me away into a raspatory Ward for triage. At about 1.30am I was taken to X-Ray for a CT Scan where they found more than 1 blood clots. My wife was not allowed in the hospital due to Co-Vid and she waited in the car in the carpark. I texted her at 3.30am and she went home.

The last time I was admitted with the clots it took 3-4 days to get tablets and injections going as treatment. This time it took only 4-5 hours (very efficient). I was taken to a Surgical ward with my own room. Because I came in from the outside Co-Vid rules put me into Isolation. The staff was absolutely great!!! Nothing was a problem for them. So I had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day then let me out before lunch yesterday.

11Weeks before I fell into a drain and cracked a bone in my ankle and had spent all those weeks with my foot "up" recovering. The treating Doctor told me that that was probably where the clots originated!!! You can't win. Put you foot up but move around to stop any clotting.....yeh right. Annoyed, frustrated.....yep but we forge on..

Thanks for listening to my whinge Merry Christmas

That was bad luck. Hope you're back in the shed soon.

Wish you a speedy recovery

Hope you get well soon.

The next step will be permanent anticoagulants I would imagine

That’s really bad luck, also wishing for a speedy recovery.
Take care Matt.

Get well soon wishes, and take care.

Take Care with your progress towards better health especially with that clotting factor .Warfarin certainly helps as a blood thinner unfortunately it's what we have to learn to live with having numerous blood tests to determine the affect of the medication .I have extended family members with Factor 5 Leiden.
Best wishes for continued healthy means to doing what you like in the shed & around the home.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I have been living with constant Warfarin for 15 years after 2 bouts of clotting in my legs. Had veins that had blown up like salami's stripped from one lower leg, and six months of Warfarin about 20 years ago, then blood tests that revealed that I am Leiden Factor 5 deficient. It was then decided that I would be fine with 1/2 an Asprin per day to control clotting and could come off the Warfarin. Five years later I managed a 98% blockage of all the veins in the thigh of the other leg, and have been on Warfarin since, except for very short breaks for colonoscopies and prostate cancer procedures, where I have come of for three days and transitioned to 10 days of daily Clexane injections instead to tide me over while I get the Warfarin out of my system then re-establish it. Luckily, when I have clotted, it has been toward the extremities rather than in the core or skull, so it has not caused immediate major problems.

I strongly suggest that you have your GP run blood tests to identify the reason behind the clotting if they have not done so. There are alternatives to Warfarin that have their pro and cons, a good doc will explain them to you and allow you to choose what direction you wish to take. One thing with Warfarin is that it's effect is reversible with a large dose of Vitamin K, and I stick with it because I try to do metalwork, woodwork and sort out my old car collection, so it's handy to know that my GP and local hospital (both 3 minutes away) can stop the flow quickly if I carve myself badly, (haven't yet). On the other hand, your dose is variable and normally determined by a pathology lab, so requires regular INR blood tests. Typically tests can commence as 3-5 days between tests while they get an idea of you reaction and slowly get longer between tests as you approach your target INR result. Prior to the prostate cancer episode last year, I managed three years straight at tests every 6 weeks, in the later part of this year they stretched out to 2 months, but my readings blew way out of range so I ended up back at weekly tests and are now at fortnightly again. Another issue with Warfarin is that doses can change significantly with diet, a switch from winter menu with soups, vegies etc to summer menu with salads can throw readings out as the amount of Vitamin K in the diet changes. I was advised to avoid the cabbage family completely, and limit and regulate my banana intake as both have high levels of Vitamin K.

The primary alternative to Warfarin appears to be more tolerant of diet and does not require monitoring for dosage, so is a much better option for many people. However it's big drawback is that it is not quickly reversible so there are complications if you have any form of accident involving significant bleeding. That's why I stick to Warfarin.

It seems like you have had a lucky escape this time, and I wish you a speedy recovery, but get the docs to start tracking down why you are clotting as soon as they can, I'm not sure but I think you need to be clear of some of the interim drugs for some time before they can do the tests, but check with them.

you young'uns just don't know when to stop.:D Hope you get a quick recovery. All the best for 2022.
Pete

Thank you Chaps for your wishes regarding a quick recovery.
I feel fine but I get a little puffed if I have to walk a short distance. My project list is a long one but enthusiasm escapes me. I find myself in front of the TV a lot. When I told the Doc about resting my ankle containing the cracked bone for 10 weeks, he told that that would have done it.

The anti-coagulant tablets are Eliquis Apixaban. The Doc said that I will probably have to take them for the rest of my life. In 2004 when I had the first Blood Clot they gave me Warfarin injections, then went home with tabs then the long backwards and forwards having INR. This time the new meds won't need the trips to Pathology

Thanks again for your encouraging words