As many of you know I underwent a surgery last Thursday due to some severe blood clotting from my knee to my pelvis. It started off as gnarly lower back pain that eventually began traveling down my left leg. By the 3rd day, the pain the was so bad that I couldn't take a few steps without my left leg being completely worn out and debilitated. At this point I knew something was wrong so I hit my local ER. After 12 hours without speaking to a doctor, a nurse came out and told me they were giving me an IV drip of a medication for a blood clot, however not telling me anything about how or why or what exactly was even going on.
Over the course of the next 12 hours, I saw 3 different doctors in the hallway of the ER, all whom gave me different answers and interpretations on what they believed was happening. Each doctor’s answer was very contradicting and rarely matched up with what the last doctor told me. Although I was being told the whole time I was going to be admitted, at the last minute I get told I'm being discharged and to go home and take this medication to thin my blood. I was told to try and move around, no hard exercise, but move around and this will begin to clear up in a few days.
Of course, being in the Hospital for what I was in for, I had received some pain medication for help try and manage what I was dealing with. Once I got home and the pain medicine wore off, I realized the pain I was still in, it was excruciating. I dealt with it as long as I possibly could until I called X at 6am literally sobbing like a baby because it was just far too intense for me to handle. Now I'll say this, I can handle a lot, and I very rarely shed a tear, but this was beyond my control. I've never ever ever in my life dealt with something this painful and i was maxed out with what I could handle by this point hence me crying like a baby lol.
Taking X's advice I hobbled into the car with a dear friend on mine who took me straight to Harbourview in Seattle. Not only is it the main trauma center in the State but is full of world renowned doctors from the University of Washington Medical center on staff as that is one of their main hospitals. I told them about my issues and what was going on and they instantly ushered me in there like I was a damn celebrity. The care I received let me just say was absolutely amazing. Within minutes I had 2 doctors in front of me working together to not only try and figure out what to do from that point forward but they were genuinely caring which went a long way in the condition i was in as well as the pain i was going through at that moment.
After a few hours of scans and imaging, the head of the vascular team came in and explained in detail exactly what was happening. I had not just one blood clot or (DVT-DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS), but several, essentially blocking majority of the returning blood flow from my knee to my pelvis. The blockage not only was severe, but also something that wasn't just going to go away on its own he told me. Essentially he told me I needed some type of emergency intervention and treated it with such urgency that he shot me right to the top of the list of the Professor of Vascular Surgery for the University of Washington.
I spoke with the Professor the following day and he explained in even more detail what was going on. On top of the clotting in my thigh and pelvis, I have an abnormality in my main vein directly leading back to my heart. Where it should be a main highway of blood flow, there is a series of collateral veins/side roads that bring my blood back to my heart, thus restricting flow for the lower half of my body's blood to return to my heart. He believes this was caused earlier in life either congenitally or because of another blockage at some point.
The options were as followed, first we could continue to do anticoagulation therapy AKA Blood Thinners and see what happens over the course of several months, which he advised most likely solve anything. Secondly he could go in and perform a thrombectomy where he goes in through the back of my knees into my main veins and travels up removing any clotting that is fresh and removable using this technique. And or lastly, in addition to the thrombectomy, reconstruct the main vein back to my heart using a series of stents and rerouting maneuvers.
Ultimately, we chose option 2 which was the thrombectomy which cleared out as much as possible from the veins while trying to achieve the goal of getting me to how I was before all this suddenly happened. If we needed to come back later and do the reconstruction we could later, but mainly to see if this brings the relief I was looking for more immediately. The surgery took place on a Thursday afternoon. Even though I had been waiting for this for several days by this point, I can’t lie, I was in a very weird place mentally. Although I had all the people I cared about the most around me and supporting me, I just had this sense of overwhelming doom. When they wheeled me back and prepped me for surgery, I’ve never felt more alone in my life. The last thing I remembered before surgery was laying on the operating room table and tears were flowing down the sides of my head, but I was also not crying. Again, one of the weirdest things ever.
I remember waking up in the recovery room to one of the nicest nurses I’ve ever come across. She was not only the kindest, but just wanted to make sure I was comfortable and taken care of. She even made me a killer cranberry and sprite cocktail right out of surgery, literally the best thing I ever have drank lol.
I was due to stay in the hospital for at least another day to monitor how things were healing and how the veins were doing post-surgery. During my stay the doctor came and had a sit down with me to explain where we were at with everything. Although he was able to get several chunks of clotting removed, there was some stuff he just could not get without risking damaging the walls of the veins. Essentially what he said is that there was prior damage that wasn’t new along with what was, and that this most likely had been happening for a long time as to why is just happened so fast and aggressively all at once. He believes that because of the already reduced flow of my blood, coupled with having COVID a week before all of this started, the clotting just had a hay day inside my body. Covid causes your blood to thicken, that coupled with lowered blood flow because of the abnormality, my body was just prone for a situation such as this unfortunately.
So what now? Well, I’ll say that the main pain from my pelvis to the inside of my thigh is better assuming this because that’s the main area he removed what he did clot wise. However, I still cannot walk to the bathroom without my left leg as a whole feeling like it’s on the 12th rep of an overweight leg press day. Showering is probably the hardest thing I’ve done in a very long time lol. So, while I’m very blessed and thankful to be alive, I’m nowhere near recovered. This is going to be a very long journey to get back to where I would like to be not just physically, but mentally as well. I do believe we will have to embark on the reconstructive surgery at some point, I’m just not too sure when at this point. I see the doctor again in 2 weeks so maybe there will be a little more clarity at that point.
Full story from the patient.
As many of you know I underwent a surgery last Thursday due to some severe blood clotting from my knee to my pelvis. It started off as gnarly lower back pain that eventually began traveling down my left leg. By the 3rd day, the pain the was so bad that I couldn't take a few steps without my left leg being completely worn out and debilitated. At this point I knew something was wrong so I hit my local ER. After 12 hours without speaking to a doctor, a nurse came out and told me they were giving me an IV drip of a medication for a blood clot, however not telling me anything about how or why or what exactly was even going on. Over the course of the next 12 hours, I saw 3 different doctors in the hallway of the ER, all whom gave me different answers and interpretations on what they believed was happening. Each doctor’s answer was very contradicting and rarely matched up with what the last doctor told me. Although I was being told the whole time I was going to be admitted, at the last minute I get told I'm being discharged and to go home and take this medication to thin my blood. I was told to try and move around, no hard exercise, but move around and this will begin to clear up in a few days. Of course, being in the Hospital for what I was in for, I had received some pain medication for help try and manage what I was dealing with. Once I got home and the pain medicine wore off, I realized the pain I was still in, it was excruciating. I dealt with it as long as I possibly could until I called X at 6am literally sobbing like a baby because it was just far too intense for me to handle. Now I'll say this, I can handle a lot, and I very rarely shed a tear, but this was beyond my control. I've never ever ever in my life dealt with something this painful and i was maxed out with what I could handle by this point hence me crying like a baby lol.
Taking X's advice I hobbled into the car with a dear friend on mine who took me straight to Harbourview in Seattle. Not only is it the main trauma center in the State but is full of world renowned doctors from the University of Washington Medical center on staff as that is one of their main hospitals. I told them about my issues and what was going on and they instantly ushered me in there like I was a damn celebrity. The care I received let me just say was absolutely amazing. Within minutes I had 2 doctors in front of me working together to not only try and figure out what to do from that point forward but they were genuinely caring which went a long way in the condition i was in as well as the pain i was going through at that moment.
After a few hours of scans and imaging, the head of the vascular team came in and explained in detail exactly what was happening. I had not just one blood clot or (DVT-DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS), but several, essentially blocking majority of the returning blood flow from my knee to my pelvis. The blockage not only was severe, but also something that wasn't just going to go away on its own he told me. Essentially he told me I needed some type of emergency intervention and treated it with such urgency that he shot me right to the top of the list of the Professor of Vascular Surgery for the University of Washington. I spoke with the Professor the following day and he explained in even more detail what was going on. On top of the clotting in my thigh and pelvis, I have an abnormality in my main vein directly leading back to my heart. Where it should be a main highway of blood flow, there is a series of collateral veins/side roads that bring my blood back to my heart, thus restricting flow for the lower half of my body's blood to return to my heart. He believes this was caused earlier in life either congenitally or because of another blockage at some point.
The options were as followed, first we could continue to do anticoagulation therapy AKA Blood Thinners and see what happens over the course of several months, which he advised most likely solve anything. Secondly he could go in and perform a thrombectomy where he goes in through the back of my knees into my main veins and travels up removing any clotting that is fresh and removable using this technique. And or lastly, in addition to the thrombectomy, reconstruct the main vein back to my heart using a series of stents and rerouting maneuvers. Ultimately, we chose option 2 which was the thrombectomy which cleared out as much as possible from the veins while trying to achieve the goal of getting me to how I was before all this suddenly happened. If we needed to come back later and do the reconstruction we could later, but mainly to see if this brings the relief I was looking for more immediately. The surgery took place on a Thursday afternoon. Even though I had been waiting for this for several days by this point, I can’t lie, I was in a very weird place mentally. Although I had all the people I cared about the most around me and supporting me, I just had this sense of overwhelming doom. When they wheeled me back and prepped me for surgery, I’ve never felt more alone in my life. The last thing I remembered before surgery was laying on the operating room table and tears were flowing down the sides of my head, but I was also not crying. Again, one of the weirdest things ever.
I remember waking up in the recovery room to one of the nicest nurses I’ve ever come across. She was not only the kindest, but just wanted to make sure I was comfortable and taken care of. She even made me a killer cranberry and sprite cocktail right out of surgery, literally the best thing I ever have drank lol.
I was due to stay in the hospital for at least another day to monitor how things were healing and how the veins were doing post-surgery. During my stay the doctor came and had a sit down with me to explain where we were at with everything. Although he was able to get several chunks of clotting removed, there was some stuff he just could not get without risking damaging the walls of the veins. Essentially what he said is that there was prior damage that wasn’t new along with what was, and that this most likely had been happening for a long time as to why is just happened so fast and aggressively all at once. He believes that because of the already reduced flow of my blood, coupled with having COVID a week before all of this started, the clotting just had a hay day inside my body. Covid causes your blood to thicken, that coupled with lowered blood flow because of the abnormality, my body was just prone for a situation such as this unfortunately.
So what now? Well, I’ll say that the main pain from my pelvis to the inside of my thigh is better assuming this because that’s the main area he removed what he did clot wise. However, I still cannot walk to the bathroom without my left leg as a whole feeling like it’s on the 12th rep of an overweight leg press day. Showering is probably the hardest thing I’ve done in a very long time lol. So, while I’m very blessed and thankful to be alive, I’m nowhere near recovered. This is going to be a very long journey to get back to where I would like to be not just physically, but mentally as well. I do believe we will have to embark on the reconstructive surgery at some point, I’m just not too sure when at this point. I see the doctor again in 2 weeks so maybe there will be a little more clarity at that point.