ugh, developed a blood clot/DVT
So on Monday of this week, starting feeling pain in my right calf, and had lots of swelling. It continued for a couple of days, so I went to see the doctor on Thursday morning, to rule out a blood clot. Ha. "Rule out." They sent me to have an ultrasound, and it turns out that I have a deep vein thrombosis in my right calf. So now in addition to the Achilles recovery, am on blood thinners as well, and need to be careful with bleeding and bruising and all that.
Was supposed to start FWB this Monday at PT… but until my blood levels stabilize, will not go to PT, so this will delay things by a week or so with that. I was pretty frustrated and upset on Thursday and Friday but am feeling a little better today. The calf hurts a lot (mostly in the morning and night) when I am standing, or on the crutches. The thing that sucks, is that one of the best things for the clot is walking and activity, and I’m not there yet.
This is a fairly common side effect of surgery… so, if you experience a lot of swelling in a fairly short period of time, accompanied by leg pain, get yourself to the doctor! You don’t want to mess around with blood clots.
on April 6th, 2009 at 8:49 am
newleaf - so sorry to hear about your dvt. be careful on the blood thinners. Hopefully you’ll be back on track in no time. good luck - keep in touch.
on April 6th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Hi Newleaf,
I haven’t been back to this blog is quite awhile, but your post jumped out at me. Had you been prescribed a baby aspirin as prevention? What day post op did the “blood clot type pain” and swelling begin? Thanks for your post as it is helpful to others I am sure. I know several folks who had these and recovered well and I also know someone who died (actually several in my nursing career) from a PE, so you don’t want to foul around with this type thing.
MarilynRD ….practicing my single heel lifts and back to playing tennis!
on April 6th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
The swelling started about 5 weeks post-op, the pain a day after. I put on a compression sock the day the swelling started, and I’m not sure if the pressure from the sock brought out the pain, or what.
My surgeon hadn’t prescribed anything like that… I don’t fault him or anything, although I’ve read that it does help.