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Well, the good news is...
I am not significantly more likely than usual to fall over dead tonight.
I went to the doctor today because yesterday I was more than mildly convinced the previous sentence was not true. For the last three or four days--starting almost immediately after visiting my sister's home upstate, which involved several hours of driving--I have been experiencing several of the lesser symptoms of an incipient or active pulmonary embolism: light-headedness, intermittent shortness of breath, fatigue, a recurring soreness in my lung, and a vague sense of dread. Fortunately, this all seems to be reasonable and unreasonable fear magnifying a small but real infection (viral or bacterial is anyone's guess) . My chest x-ray, blood oxygen, blood pressure, and EKG all seem to be completely normal.
However, being at the doctor, I did finally get blood drawn for testing to determine whether I have any clotting disorders, especially the one which seems to be running in my family. I had been putting this off both to learn more about what my sister had, and because I am more than slightly phobic about needles. However, this was the most uneventful blood-drawing I've had in years and years; the nurse found a good vein on the first try, and it remained open without collapsing through the entire process. Within a week, I should know if I have congenital protein C or S deficiency. My sister tested positive for this one. My father can't be tested for it, because ever since his second embolism (in 1994), he's been on warfarin (Coumadin) prophylactically, and that makes it impossible to test for protein C activity. Tim was never tested, but it's practically certain that he had it, given father's history of embolisms and our sister's test results.
Wish me luck.
I went to the doctor today because yesterday I was more than mildly convinced the previous sentence was not true. For the last three or four days--starting almost immediately after visiting my sister's home upstate, which involved several hours of driving--I have been experiencing several of the lesser symptoms of an incipient or active pulmonary embolism: light-headedness, intermittent shortness of breath, fatigue, a recurring soreness in my lung, and a vague sense of dread. Fortunately, this all seems to be reasonable and unreasonable fear magnifying a small but real infection (viral or bacterial is anyone's guess) . My chest x-ray, blood oxygen, blood pressure, and EKG all seem to be completely normal.
However, being at the doctor, I did finally get blood drawn for testing to determine whether I have any clotting disorders, especially the one which seems to be running in my family. I had been putting this off both to learn more about what my sister had, and because I am more than slightly phobic about needles. However, this was the most uneventful blood-drawing I've had in years and years; the nurse found a good vein on the first try, and it remained open without collapsing through the entire process. Within a week, I should know if I have congenital protein C or S deficiency. My sister tested positive for this one. My father can't be tested for it, because ever since his second embolism (in 1994), he's been on warfarin (Coumadin) prophylactically, and that makes it impossible to test for protein C activity. Tim was never tested, but it's practically certain that he had it, given father's history of embolisms and our sister's test results.
Wish me luck.
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My paternal grandmother died of a pulmonary embolism in her late 60s. We are almost certain that it was a complication of undiagnosed and untreated Hashimoto's autoimmune hypothyroid disease, however: Both her brother and I have Hashis, but we are treated.
Good luck!
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Get well soon.
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The Doctor Calls
(Anonymous) 2003-10-31 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
well, hurray for that! hurray!
good luck with the test results.
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