help

my boyfriend recently had a pacemaker implanted i think about a month ago. and developed a blood clot about 2-3 days ago, he went to the hospital and they did an ultra sound on his arm and now he tells me that there going to do a cat scan on his chest to see where the clot came from. my question is if anybody has gone through the procedures hes going through in the hospital what happens next? do they operate or do they give him medication and send him home? im really worried and would like to know whats going to happen.

thanks

3 Comments

Been there

by jweese - 2008-07-31 07:07:17

Hi

I developed a DVT following my Bivent PM/ICD surgery in November. They found it 2 days after my surgery when I called to tell them my arm had swelled to 3 inches larger than my right arm and was a horrible purple color and was very cold!! They admitted me back in and I was in for 4 days. They put me on a heparin drip and also coumadin. They checked my blood a couple of times a day. Since it was in my left arm, all the blood tests and IV's had to be done in the right arm. Once I was therapeutic with the drugs, I was discharged from the hospital. I had to get my INR levels checked weekly until they leveled out. Now I go from every 2 weeks to every 4 depending on what they are. I also insisted that I see a vascular surgeon 3 months down the road (in Jan) b/c I was still having trouble with my arm. They did a cat scan and another doppler ultrasound. The clot has gotten better. My clot apparently came from around the leads and then traveled down my arm. My vascular surgeon didn't recommend surgery b/c it had gone down. I still keep an eye on it. I developed some collateral veins around the clot so those aren't too pretty but at least blood flow is going around the clot. The dr thinks my body formed the clot around the leads. Some people he said have trouble with those foreign objects (pic line, leads) in their body and sometimes they take out the foregin object but since I need the device, that was not an option. It was tough to be admitted back in the hospital but at least it was caught. I didn't have one in my chest just from the subclavian all down the arm. It was painful but once the blood thinners started working, it felt better. The dr at the very beginning had said if I didn't respond to the drugs, there are other options including surgery. Thankfully, I didn't have to go there.

I hope everything works out for your boyfriend. I was very freaked out when they told me I had one. I asked lots of questions of all the doctors. Hopefully, his will be taken care of with drugs. It is a pain to deal with coumadin but it does work. I hope this helps! Good luck!
Jennifer

blood clot

by maryanne - 2008-07-31 08:07:32

Jennifers response is right on.....there are medications like Heparin that are used to breakdown the clots and as long as your boyfriend responds well a few days in the hospital is all he will need. With clots there is always the risk that they can spread to the lungs, heart or even brain so they do need to be taken seriously and treated. Ultrasounds(venous doppler) and CT scans are common treatments to identify clot formation. His blood work will be montiored to make he is responding appropriately to treatment, and as I said if all goes well he should be out in a few days.

Keep us posted....

thank you

by jasmineg - 2008-08-01 05:08:02

thank you for the comments they helped alot. still kinda worried but feeling alot better
again thank you

You know you're wired when...

You prefer rechargeable batteries.

Member Quotes

Without this little machine, we would not be here.