Please give me some advice on blood clot on lung

[Natasha1]

Please, please can someone give me some advice.

My husband had a knee operation just over a week ago & was then taken back into hospital on Sat night with suspected blood clot on his lung, due to a sickness bug at the hospital I have been unable to visit him & am worried sick,

I have spoken to him a few times on the phone, but as of yet we still do not know for certain it is a blood clot. He has had a chest x-ray, which came back with a grey area & an ultrasound scan of his leg which he should get the results for today. The pain did go away but came back yesterday not as bad & my husband said the pain had moved (it was just under the left of his nipple & had moved to the right.) Please does anyone know if it is still normal to get some pain once you are geting the injections), I have spoken to our doctor who is great & said that everything they have done is the right thing, in the right order but I am just worried that something awful is going to happen to him, this is made a 100 times worse as I have not seen him since Sat (did not go up to the hospital on sat evening with him as I had to stay with the children, he went with his brother so I have had no info direct from any doctor) & will not see him for a least the next couple of days.

Natasha1 - try not to worry - blood clots are easy to treat, and he's in the best place.

Can you speak to the doctor again today?

so sorry your going throught this and your dh, but they are easy to treat, i had a pe about 10 years ago and was in hospital on hepin, and warfin and yes i was still in pain for about 5 days with injection, and i still get some pain now where its scared me but am ok,

hope he feels better soon

Thanks so much for your replies, I am allowed to take a bag up & hand it over at the door which I am sorting out now (Poor sod has not got a toothbrush, clean underwear anything). He can't be in too much pain as he has asked for wine gums (enough to share around) some other sweets & told his brother who rang him last night that he had to go as Celebrity jungle thing was just about to start on the shared tv they have and he did not want to miss any!!!
I have only spoken to our GP who told me that everything that has been done is correct, thats all, I have not spoken to any of the doctors at the hospital & the nurses don't seem to know anything else, also they will not really give any info over the phone.

I feel better already knowing that it is normal to still get pain for a few days afterwards, but the pain has also moved, is this normal?. It is a nightmare my ds keeps crying asking where his daddy is, wants to give him a cuddle etc. Once again thanks for any replies, it is putting me mind at ease.

Natasha1 yes mine did move once the heprin was bursting the clot, but i think its more on feeling it diffrent, again hope hes ok hes in best place and yes doing every thing right its when they dont do it write when theres trouble, even if its not a clot they have done protcall for it

Anyone else have any advice they can give me?

Don't panic. The heparin will stop the clotting process so that the body can break down the clot.
He will have started on Warfarin tablets which can take a few or several days to work, and he will need regular blood tests to get the dose of warfarin right. Once the warfarin kicks in, he can stop the injections.
He will have to be on warfarin for anything from 6 weeks to 12 months, but will have blood tests in the outpatient clinic. He will have some residual pain in his chest from the site of the clot until it has broken down and been reabsorbed by the body.
Once the treatment has finished he will have some blood tests and investigations to see if there is a particular reason why he developed a clot that needs further investigation.

I am sure he will feel better soon.

HTH

Off to do school run now - will check back later in case you have any more questions.

Should have said - if this is a post-operative PE he will probably only need 6 - 12 weeks treatment.

Thanks very much for your replies, I am just so scared, nothing like this has ever happened to us before. It is made worse because I can't visit him, the nurses are great but really are not telling me anything (partly because I am on the phone).

It seems that his ultrasound scan of his knee was clear & yesterday he was supposed to have another scan to say for sure whether it was a blod clot but for some reason he was not given the scan (over booking!!! maybe) so I am worried because although they ae treating him for a blood clot & seem to think this is what it is has not been 100% confirmed by this scan (if you see what I mean).

I'm afraid I am a natural worrier & keep thinking the worst, his pain was really bad early hours of Tuesday morning & they gave him morphine, the nurses seem to just be so busy they can not give him any reassurances -
Yes, it is a post-operative PE.

Once again, thank you.

They will always treat as a clot if the scan result isn't available, or the scan cannot be done. If, subsequently, it is found not to have been a clot, then the treatment can be stopped. It is better and safer to treat than not to treat IYSWIM.

I am so sorry you are having such a worrying time, but honestly, the treatment seems to be exactly the right course of action.

PE is a recognised complication of orthopaedic surgery, so it is best to presume that that is what it is, in the absence of anything else.

I am sure that as soon as your dh is stable on the warfarin they will try to get him home asap.

And - I should have said, the pain from PE can be really excruitiating, but should gradually improve.

3little frogs - You don't know how much you are helping me.

He has texted me today to say that he may have to wait another 2 days for the scan (sad) (angry), although they are going to try their best to get it done tody, thee delay is due to bug at hospital. He is still in a lot of pain had to sleep upright last night, being on injections since Sat evening, is this normal?.

I am sorry to ask you but there is no one else I can talk to - still not able to visit him.

Thnaks so much for all your advice.

Oh dear, my faces have not worked, well you know what I mean!!!

Yes - injections quite normal. The injections have to be continued until the level of warfarin in the blood stream is sufficient and stable. It is a very tricky drug to stabilise.
He will be having regular blood tests to see how the process is going and some people need a few days, some people need a couple of weeks. BUT - I am sure they won't keep him in hospital a minute longer than necessary.
From everything you say he is getting the right treatment. There is always a bit of a problem getting scans - demand always outstrips supply - but they are treating him anyway and that is the most sensible thing to do.

Try and hang in there - make sure you eat properly, try and get some rest, enlist all possible help with shopping etc etc so that you can look after him when he comes home.

3littlefrogs

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your reassurance, I really am very grateful to you for your time & advice.

Is it generally possible to pay for a private scan or do we just have to wait.

They seem to be saying that once the pain has gone/not as bad he will be allowed home, also I think that people are not being allowed to leave because of the sickness bug at the hospital.

Thanks again.

I really wouldn't consider paying for a scan at the moment - wait and see how things go over the next 24 hours.

Have to go out now but will check back later.

3little frogs

Well I have spoken to him this afternoon, he still has not had a scan.
He is still on the injections, although he says he hasn't had any recent blood tests. He asked about the bruising on one part of his leg & they said that might be where the clot started & have given him surgical stockings to put on.

Anyway, he didn't sound so breathless & didn't have any Morphine last night so I am hoping that he is starting to slowly feel better.

Thank you so much for being my sounding board, you have really made all the difference to me in dealng with this & just calming down.

To be honest I don't know what I would do without having you to speak to.

3little frogs

Just thought, would the stockings be just for precaution or could they be worried about a DVT in his leg as well (only the back of his knee was ultra scanned which was negative.

Sorry, my mind is just working overtime!!!

Clots in lungs almost always (well - most experts say always) come from a clot in the deep veins of the calf. It is due to the fact that people having surgery are immobile for quite a long time, and that, together with the trauma of the surgery increases the risk of a clot forming.

Some people have an increased risk of clotting either because they have a family history or a genetic tendency, or if they smoke, or are overweight - there are literally dozens of risk factors.

The NICE guidelines for surgical patients state that patients having surgery should be risk assessed and be given appropriate preventative treatment. This usually would include surgical stockings and also, for most people, injections after surgery.

I have really simplified this (before any thromboprophylaxis experts come and tell me off for oversimplifying).

So the surgical stockings are good. It is reasonable to look for a clot in the leg - and the treatment for both conditions is the same.

HTH

There is a queue of people wanting to use the computer now - homework - so will check back later.

3little frogs,

once again thank you

My dad suffered from a PE last year after undergoing brain surgery to alleviate the symptoms of his Parkinson's Disease. It was terribly frightening as he went into a coma for a while.

When we spoke to the (fantastic) doctors, they said that it is the most common post-operative complication.

My dad recovered after a couple of weeks, but he has to take warferin for the rest of his life.

Hope he recovers soon - he's in the very best hands for such an event.

XX

trulymadlydeeply - how awful for you & your family.

With my dh it was just such a shock, it was never even mentioned that this could/might happen.

It is his first ever operation so I didn't know what symptoms to look out for, in hindsight he was showing signs of a PE from wed evening but he did not go to the hospital until sat evening, it scares the hell of of me to think what could have happened if it had been left any longer - trouble was he just didn't say how much pain he was in until he couldn't cope with it any more - men & their pride!!!

Thanks everyone for your postings, especially 3little frogs - please keep checking this thread as I am sure I will have further questions for you (if you don't mind.

Just popped back to check this - am on my way to bed now.

Trulymadlydeeply - so sorry to hear about your dad. Hope he is coping ok on the warfarin - it is a bit tedious having to be on it for ever - but thank goodness we have it!

Natasha1 - it sounds as if things are improving with your dh. I hope to hear more positive news tomorrow

3little frogs

I had an interview this afternoon so have not had a chance to post before now.

Day did not start well, firstly took my DD to nursery this morning & came back to a flat tyre, £60.00 for a new tyre.

Then onto a inteview this afternoon, was the worst I have ever experienced - wouldn't mind but it is for an internal vacancy, consisted of 2 role plays, 1 written test & a 45min formal interview, bloody hell not even sure I want the job that badly!!!

Anyway, onto the hopefully better news, my dh has finally had his scan late this afternoon (thank god),so hoping to hear results tomorrow.

Spoke to him this morning (still not able to visit) and he sounded better, not so breathless, he said although he was still in pain it was not as bad. He managed to sleep on both sides last night, although it is still uncomfortable when he lies down.

I now feel we are slowly getting there (least I bloody well hope so) & just want the results of his scan.

Also, he was having some more blood tests today, I presume this is to check his levels to see if he can move onto the Warfain tables?

I am off now to my BIG glass of wine, which I feel I more than deserve.