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Blood Clot

So it has come to my attention that people are actually following my blog as I've had a few messages asking if I've been away. Truth is i didn't think anyone actually read these and was more of an outlet for myself.

So Anyway for those who do follow a few weeks ago i was admitted to hospital with a blood clot on my lung.

It was fucking painful but not unusual as i have chest pain often. I was washing my hair and was literally so exhausted and out of breath i just cried and went back to bed. An hour or so later i needed to go to the pathology clinic to get my INR (blood test) done. Walking out of the clinic i was in so much pain under my left rib and also at the top of my chest and unusually out of breath, it hurt every time i took a breath.

So i called my partner who immediately came home and called the hospital. Given my history and the fact i hate hospitals with a passion i didn't want to go and wasn't sure if it was a side effect to all my heart issues. The hospital however didn't agree and called an ambulance.

I was seen within minutes of arriving and had a chest x-ray which showed nothing. The signs were indicting a blood clot but the Dr's were confused as I'm on blood thinners and didn't want to to do a CT scan because of the radiation.

Then my INR came back as a reading of 2, which for me is low and anything under is considered blood clot danger zone for me. So i was admitted to the cardiac ward much to my dismay for 3 days. I also scored a visit from Dr Bill !

I had a high heart rate which is also pretty normal for me, resting at 90 and jumping to 120 as soon as i got up. I was pumped with high doses of warfarin and twice daily clexane injections to get my INR back in range which should be 2.5 to 3.5.

I had another echo which showed pretty much the same result as my last test with scar tissue blocking my aorta moderately + and mechanical valve hitting the scar tissue is restricting blood flow out of my heart.

So for 3 days i just had to wait for my blood to thin out and eventually being sent home with Clexane needles and a new calcium blocker verapamil to slow the heart down.

20 something clexane injections later my INR is finally at a 3.1

My medication is starting to work well and is a thousand times better than the metoprolol beta blocker that i was taking before which is horrible.

I haven't had chest pain since (accept my pacemaker but that's another story) and the verapamil seems to be working, my heart rate is slowly going down & although i still get out of breath i no longer feel like I've ran a marathon everyday.

 So much waiting
 Aaron bought burgers cos hospital food sucks
 The joy of wafarin
Clexane injections





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