Handhold Please - Husband is in hospital with hypoxia

[ValAndEarl]

I'm so scared and don't have anyone to talk to.

My husband was sent to the hospital by the GP late this afternoon because his o2 levels were low. He was advised not to drive and had to get a taxi which I assume is a bad sign.
He's now on oxygen and waiting for x-rays and CT. His o2 is now wavering between 90 and 94. He's been told it might be a blood clot.

I know the odds are that it will be fine but it's so scary. I don't live near family and I'm alone with 3 children and terrified. I'm not in the best of health myself either and he's always been my support system throughout that.

I'm sure it'll look better in the morning, but the one person I'd usually be sharing this terror with isn't here.

I forgot to mention, I had an IVC filter put into my inferior vena cava (bit like a cocktail umbrella!) to stop any further clots reaching my lungs. If they find a location for your husband's primary clot (they found mine in the leg that was operated on) that is a possibility to help protect him from any further PEs in the short term.

They insert in by threading it up a vein in your groin in interventional radiology (with a local anaesthetic). The removal of it (which was a few months later) was via the jugular (i.e. neck vein), and I won't lie, it was not a pleasant experience.

Best Wishes OP. My DH was on warfarin to counter blood clots, had to be tested quite frequently and dose adjusted. Now he is on Rivaroxaban with only an annual check I think.
It should improve.

Thanks for posting this - I researched this as was trying to figure out the rationale for warfarin (my own nurse curiosity)

Only seen this a few times and they were on clopidogrel or aspirin.

I fell down a research rabbit hole about antiphospholipid syndrome thanks to a PP - only rationale I can see for it.

Warfarin is such an ‘old’ drug to me but clearly still has an important use.

I had pulmonary embolism, but mine was provoked (has a cause) by pregnancy and covid. My haematologist is confident that it’s a one off and I’m not on any blood thinners anymore

If you are interested, another one for the fascinating fact file: the finger prick tests dont work (or rather are inaccurate) if the INR is significantly elevated - above 4 I think. If that is the case then veinous blood is needed.

Other than APS another rationale is that there is an antidote to warfarin - vitamin K. Currently there is no antidote to rivaroxaban. This may be why people are put on warfarin while being stabilised.

My husband had a stroke in Dec. 2020, he was very lucky as I was with him when it happened. Blue lighted to hospital where he received clot busting medication and transferred to the RVI in N/Castle.
He is on apixaban twice daily, statins and two meds for high blood pressure, He has an anomaly in his blood, he’s lacking something called Protein C.
The inpatient and aftercare has been faultless, he received physios four times a week at home, SLT therapy, consultant consultations over the phone, regular blood specialist consultations, blood tests etc.
Hes fitter than he was before the stroke.
Hell be on Apixaban for life, he does bleed more if he as a cut.

So, today's update. Thanks for all the posts above, I'm reading and taking them all in. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to reply.

He's still feeling OK. Still on heparin drip and warfarin. They're taking blood regularly to check his INR level. He says his INR is 2.7 and it needs to be in the range of 1.5 which it was yesterday. It looks like it's going to be at least the rest of the week before he can come out.
His o2 is now 97 but he's still on oxygen at the moment.

He had a pelvic CT and found no other clots. They did find that his prostate was showing up bright on the scan which can indicate cancer. They did a blood test that showed no markers for it but he's going to be referred to a urologist, I assume just to check. So that's another thing to worry about.

At least he seems well within himself, he's quite tired on and off, and fed up with being hooked up to a drip now.
Everything looks like it's going in the right direction though, so now we wait.

So glad he's beginning to pick up.

My dad went on warfarin when he had atrial fibrillation. He'd be in his late 60s. Lived til his mid 80s. It was a bit of a pain, if I'm honest. He had to go for regular tests at the clinic as they kept adjusting his medication up and down. He loved going, though. He used to see his mates there and have a good gossip. 🙄

He also got prostate cancer. But there are a multitude of treatments that they can give so as one thing stops working, they move you onto something else. My dad's numbers fell so low that they no longer considered it cancer.

He lived for years with both and neither contributed to his death. (The NHS managed to kill him off eventually by giving him an infected pacemaker and when he told them he wasn't feeling well, the heart team dismissed him as not being their problem. He died of sepsis a few days later. )

So don't worry about warfarin. My dad was told, though, that he'd have to be on it for life but his problem was incurable whereas once they've got rid of yoyr husband's clots, maybe that will be the end of the treatment.

I hope he'll be home with you soon.

INR will tend to bounce around while your DH's warfarin gets stabilised. 2.7 is not scary high.

INR measures how quickly blood clots. Below 1 is quick, above 4 is slow to clot. Happiness is somewhere between those two numbers. Your DH will probably be given a target range long term.

INR is impacted by warfarin and also by diet and stress. Living with warfarin means keeping to a regular diet, taking the tablets at a regular time and living with a regular level of stress. Consistency is key. Change will impact INR.

I have APS (auto-immune sticky blood syndrome) so my target INR is 2 to 3. My INR does bounce around a bit sometimes for no obvious reason. On the whole it doesn't impact my life other than staying consistent.

I hope the prostate problem is easily resolved.

Best wishes

Good to hear your update - hope everything continues to go well!

Hope he feels better and is back home with you soon xx

Well, he's still in the hospital.

Today he woke up in the early hours feeling sick with a headache and feeling really cold. He then had diarrhoea for a good few hours. Then he dozed on and off all morning and afternoon and now has suddenly got really shivery. He literally could hardly talk because of the shaking. He's just had some paracetamol but god knows what's wrong now.
He's finally off the heparin drip as of today, but then a few hours later he has been put on a (saline?) drip as they say he's dehydrated and has some kidney damage.
Of course, he text me all this and then promptly fell asleep so I was here trying to deal with the kids while almost having a panic attack.
We were hoping things were moving in the right direction to getting him home in the next day or so, hopefully, this doesn't prevent that and isn't anything too bad.

I an sorry he has not been too good today . Hopefully it is just a blip in his recovery x