TO Heidi - blood clots

[Guest guest]

Heidi,

Unless the vein that blew was a major vein, I wouldn't be overly

concerned about blood clots. The veins the nurses use for IV's in

the arms are superficial, and just travel around the body under the

skin. It is the major veins that they use for Picc and Central Lines

and port-a-caths that are the risk factors for blood clots, as these

all lead directly to the heart and lungs.

My doctors told me that the risk for blood clots are quite high when

one has a Picc line, therefore any sign of fever and/or infection

should be brought to the doctor's attention immediately. When my

main nurse came in for her shift on the Sunday morning after I woke

up with a puffy arm and neck, she immediately contacted the doctor

who rushed in to take out the picc line. They got the technician to

perform an ultrasound on my arm and neck over the swelling to check

for clots and that's when they found it. I then went up to surgery,

they took out the picc line and put in the central line in my neck.

I was on a heightened watch by the nurses after that, and had to

have a cry when I was told I had a high chance of dying because of

it. They told me if I made it after 3 days without any breathing

problems, then I wouldn't be a high risk anymore. That was scary.

That was the beginning of February this year. My arm is permanently

larger than my left arm now. I actually had two clots. One just

above the cut where the line entered my arm, the other in my neck.

The smaller clot near the cut on my arm dissolved within a few

weeks, after being on heparin and then coumadin. The larger one in

my neck is still there, but the blood is moving around it now. I

still need to be careful about massaging that area or chiropractors

or anything else..don't want to dislodge it.

And to top it off, I constantly get a restless feeling in my left

arm which i believe is a result of the clots, and it aches all the

time..which is a real annoyance.

Oh, and when i went to see my gyno for a check up, he told me it was

fine to go back on the pill, even though I had a 6 inch clot in my

neck...don't know if I can accept that as fact..last thing i want is

to die of a clot after everything i've been through.

I would talk to your doctor about your concerns about blood

clotting, but I think it is mainly the larger veins that are likely

to cause problems.