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philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 28, 2009 - 03:26pm PT
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Well I am on a minimum 3 month blood thinning regimen. Which, now that I have to be careful about nose bleeds and head bumps, has shot my tough guy persona out the window. But it has given me a new cartoon idea.
Vampires on a diet liking me because it's "Blood Lite"
I really hope that the genetic blood disorder that has been identified does not mean I have to be thinned for ever.
On an up note I have been out climbing again.
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Jul 28, 2009 - 03:33pm PT
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You can also get compression tights to wear for when you have long periods of sitting (long flights, etc).
Said tights have also shown some effects in reducing muscle soreness after long, high-intensity activity. I've got a pair that I sometimes use after 4+ hour bike rides. Seems to help.
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philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 28, 2009 - 03:43pm PT
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And thank you all for the concern and support. Y'all ROCK!
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ec
climber
ca
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Jul 28, 2009 - 03:55pm PT
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Philo,
My 16y/o was diagnosed with DVT a couple of weeks ago. 'Out of the blue... 'Just like you, three months of Arixtra injections after an initial coumadin regimen. He had no pain, however a couple of weeks before school was out, we noticed one calf was larger than the other...After freaking out, like "don't do anything!" we just make sure he doesn't sit on his ass too long and keep him from activities that may more easily incur a bleeding injury.
 ec
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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Mar 11, 2010 - 01:46am PT
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Philo: I'm curious as to how you are doing. I was just diagnosed with DVT after going to emergency recently with a pain and swelling in my calf muscle. Ultrasound identified a blood clot in my peroneal vein behind my left knee. I suspect the clot may have originated this last August when I spent countless hours driving on a 2 week road trip to Oregon & Washington from the SF Bay Area. I first noticed a problem while in Portland and then it stiffened up while driving from Portland to Darrington. I took some Ibuprofin and it seemed to help, so we climbed at Darrington the next day. My calf stiffened up on the 2nd pitch of a 3 pitch route. Took some more Ibuprofin and hiked out but cut the climbing trip short after that. I continued taking Ibuprofin and stopped in Tuolumne for a day of climbing without much pain. Didn't have any problems until last week when my calf started tightening up and swelling again after gym climbing. This time it was so painful and swollen that I went to emergency. I'm on 5 mg/day Coumadin and self-injections of 80 mg Lovenox twice/day. I'm hoping this will only be a temporary set back and I'll be able to return to outdoor activities this summer. At 58 years old, I hope this is realistic.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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Mar 11, 2010 - 02:22pm PT
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bump for Philo
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ec
climber
ca
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Mar 11, 2010 - 03:27pm PT
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Bummer. Make sure that you wear a compression sock and get some blood work done to see possible causes (i.e., lupus, etc.). We go three to six months at a time with our kid. So far, his leg diam. has reduced, but he's not out of the woods yet...
ec
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Scraptee
Trad climber
Tacoma
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Mar 11, 2010 - 05:22pm PT
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I missed this the first time around but I'll chime in here. I developed a swollen ankle in Jan 06 after a long plane flight. Being big on self diagnosis I related it to some plantar fasciitis (also self diagnosed) and just dealt with it for a couple months. I noticed that I was getting our of breath on moderate hills on my bike rides that I would normally cruise up. Finally at my wife's insistence I stopped off at doc-in-a-box one Friday night. When the doc looked at my ankle and calf he asked a bunch of questions. When I said I had periods of breathlessness he told me to go to ER right away. I went home had dinner and a couple glassed of wine then headed over to ER.
They poked and prodded my for a week and put me on heparin, an anticoagulant. Turns out I had three good sized clots in my lungs and serious blockage in the back of my knee. I was told that I was lucky because I could have been dead walking around with it as long as I did. I ad no awareness of DVTs and figured I was way too healthy to have to deal with it. After they were happy that they found the happy median of making sure that I had enough anticoagulant to prevent clots but not cause bleeding problems I went home.
The blockage in the back of the knee hasn't improved so I'm on warfarin (I'm told that there is something better on the horizon) with no ill noticeable ill effects. I still cycle, but don't race and climb as much as possible. I took a good leader fall last summer and landed on my butt and heel. I was a bit nervous about internal bleeding but I heeled quickly and didn't notice any unusual hematoma action. I've been on the blood thinners for nearly 3 years now.
TT I climb with EC up here in the PNW. Send me a PM if you have any other questions.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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Mar 11, 2010 - 07:41pm PT
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thanks ec, Gene, & Scraptee...I appreciate your support
On the basis of my blood test my doctor increased the Coumadin to 7.5 mg/day and continue the Lovenox 80 mg injections twice/day. I'm going in for another blood test on Monday. My doctor estimates I'll be on the Coumadin for 6 months.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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Mar 11, 2010 - 10:02pm PT
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bump for philo
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Mar 11, 2010 - 10:06pm PT
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I'm nursing a blood clot in my leg right now.
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 12, 2010 - 09:43am PT
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Hello Toulumne Tradster and all. I just caught these bumps. I am doing well thank you all very much. Turns out I have a genetic condition called factor 5 lydin which means I have abnormally thick blood to begin with. Six months of blood thinning protocol and I am back to abnormal. The medicos lose all sense of humor when they diagnose a DVT. But they have good reasons to be so serious. The ravaging effects of a clot rampaging through soft tissues like heart and lungs is pretty terrifying. It is a clear case of "better safe than sorry". The hard part is that with any clot the docs are going to think you are a long term risk factor and want to keep you on medicines for as long as possible. I had to argue that I was sure this was a one time circumstantial episode and I didn't need long term blood thinning. I did NOT like the meds! They made me feel stretched thin and (even more) fuzzy headed. The docs didn't put any credence in my claims of the negative effects of the blood thinners as they hadn't heard of others with similar accounts. But once I was off of them I felt much, much better. Though I have to admit that when that bugger kicked in it was an intense writhing in pain experience. Been there, done that, don't want to do it again. Good luck to you, get your blood thinning protocol stabilized, take care and pay attention to your body.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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Mar 12, 2010 - 12:01pm PT
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Thanks for the info philo....Glad to see you're off the meds and doing well. Right now I'm still trying to achieve the right blood parameters with Lovenox injections & Coumadin. Long term, my doc recommended ~6 months on Coumadin after stabilizng my blood.
If you don't mind me asking, are you back to 'normal' outdoor activities like hiking & climbing? I see your avatar shows you ice climbing...are you ice climbing again?
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Mar 12, 2010 - 12:07pm PT
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Hang in there Phil.
We gotta have a healthy benefactor up in CO.
You can never tell when the Cozmic Banditos will come swooping in on your ass again!
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 12, 2010 - 12:52pm PT
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As a matter of fact I am heading to Ouray this weekend to kick ice and take names. Hang in there TT. Six months isn't that long. And in geologic terms it isn't even significant. Once stabilized you will be able to be carefully active.
Bruce the door is always open to youz dadz.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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Mar 12, 2010 - 01:00pm PT
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cool...thanks for that reply philo. I was in Ouray in January for the Ice Festival...we had a blast.
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Mason
Trad climber
Yay Area
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Mar 12, 2010 - 03:46pm PT
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Phil,
I have no knowledge of DVT however I had a question.
Were you by chance taking Vioxx at all? It's a drug for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
I just did a research project on biopharma and we studied about vioxx so just wondering.
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 15, 2010 - 10:59am PT
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It's true I had ended up needing to sell all my climbing gear to cover medical expenses. But folks have been really generous. They are even letting me try anew prototype ice axe. Check it out.
Let me know if you want a set. I know they are a little pricey at $6.95 each. But as the new rep I might cut you ST cats a pro-deal
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AstroArlo
Trad climber
Jackson, WY
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Mar 15, 2010 - 12:22pm PT
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Philo:
I'm an EMT and a DVT is a potential life threatening condition. If the clot breaks loose, it can move through your vascular system and cause a pulmonary embolism (a clot in the blood supply to your lungs) which can kill you as fast as a heart attack - 5 minutes or less! That's why the medical people were scared that you might croak! Paramedics can do something about a heart attack, but they can't do much for a pulmonary embolism. This is what NBC correspondant David Bloom died of in Iraq - from sitting in one position for a long time (beware those long flights to Australia - perhaps climbing at Mt. Arapiles is not such a good idea...lol!).
Clots and DVT are a potential common complication of orthopedic surgery (or other trauma), and some people develop them spontaneously. Patients are given anti-coagulation drugs as a precaution, usually this is Lovenox given as a sub-cutaneous (under the skin) shot in the belly area. They might also give a stronger anti-coagulant such as coumadin.
Coumadin is a very tricky drug - the docs have to find a balance between not coagulating enough (ie. turn you into a hemopheliac) and coagulating too much (die from a pulmonary embolism). So, they usually do frequent blood tests to check your clotting factors and adjust your dosage to keep it in the appropriate range.
Tell your doctor exactly what activities you are considering doing and follow his advice - your life depends on it.
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Gene
climber
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Mar 28, 2011 - 08:45pm PT
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They're back....
The leg went huge and very sore. The ultrasound found them. Oxycodone, Lovenox in the tummy, and Cumadin. I start the every-other-day blood draws tomorrow.
g
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