Well, I'm back and still above ground.

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I was very tired all last week and especially Sat & Sun,,,
Monday morning I was a bit out of breath after my morning cardio-stretch workout.

Tuesday I started to do my workout but got out of breath very quickly,,,
Like an idiot I didn't go in to the ER until early Wednesday afternoon,,,
My breathing had gone from breaths to gasps and panting,,,
Just walking to the bathroom started it up.

So I called my life-line friend and he took me in to the ER,,,
By that time I was just panting like a dog,,,
Barely able to breathe at all.

They immediately had me chew a handful of aspirin,,,
Then sent me for a CT scan.

They found two large clots,,,
One in each lung.

Thankfully my normal cardiologist was on duty,,,
By 3:30 PM I was in the Cath Lab undergoing a clot extraction.

It took them almost 2 hours to remove all of the blockage,,,
But the good news is that the relief was immediate,,,
I could breathe easily again.

They showed me the clots they removed and it freaked me out,,,
It looked like they removed two damned tarantulas from my poor old body.

241019-LungClots.jpg


Now here is the weird part,,,
These clots didn't form over a long period of time,,,
My Doc thinks they formed over a two week period at most.

He asked me if I had experienced any upper body pain in the last month or so,,,
I replied that yes, I had some bad pain in my left upper arm,,,
This started about 3-weeks ago and never abated.

Of course he can't be certain but he thinks I had a clot in my arm,,,
That then migrated into my lungs through a common vein.

They put me on a strong blood thinner and my shoulder no longer hurts,,,
It's amazing how body parts that seem totally unrelated,,,
Can interact with each other in very bad ways.

Anyways, they let me go home Thursday afternoon,,,
I'm now on a heavy duty blood thinner for life,,,
But am now breathing normally and easily.

He said I can resume normal activities in two weeks,,,
The major distress now is that danged incision in my groin,,,
That's the large vein they went through to get the probe into my lungs.

He warned me to take it VERY easy for a week,,,
As that's the vein that can cause a total bleed-out in minutes if opened.

So I'm taking his directions very seriously,,,
For two weeks nothing more strenuous that Netflix and bathroom trips.

So here I am,,,
Happily still above ground.

Thank the powers that be for modern medical procedures.

Aarond

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Glad you are okay. A couple of years ago my 63 year old father woke up having trouble breathing. The ambulance came to take him to the ER because it was pretty severe. He didn’t make it to the hospital alive. We all wait because we hate to waste time and money on hospitals, but you never know when waiting another day or two will be the last bad decision you make.
 
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Glad you are okay. A couple of years ago my 63 year old father woke up having trouble breathing. The ambulance came to take him to the ER because it was pretty severe. He didn’t make it to the hospital alive. We all wait because we hate to waste time and money on hospitals, but you never know when waiting another day or two will be the last bad decision you make.

I'm just so glad that I have a life-line friend.

JD and I worked together at OSU for many years,,,
Despite our age difference of 28 years,,,
We became fast friends.

We go to the range every now and then,,,
And get together for an hour or so of pool most every Thursday evening.

I live alone about 18 miles out of Stillwater,,,
So when I retired JD said I could text him every morning,,,
If he hasn't received the text by 10:00 AM he goes into alert mode.

In the close to 4 years I've been retired I've only forgotten to text twice,,,
Both times he immediately called me to see if I was okay.

When I called him this past Wednesday there was no hesitation,,,
He immediately left work and was at my door in less than 30 minutes.

He didn't leave the hospital,,,
Until I was out of surgery and resting comfortably.

I am truly blessed to have a friend such as he is,,,
And he let's me be the "Crazy Uncle" to his three youngest kids.

He's the person I assembled a 10/22 kit for,,,
It was worth every penny I spent on it,,,
Click here to view the kit.

Aarond

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Glad to hear you are on the mend, pulmonary embolisms are no joke. I've watched them kill almost instantly before. Patient was talking one minute and just keeled over in front of me, going purple from the nipple line up. They had thrown a clot in their lung (pulmonary embolism) and didn't make it. Keep up with your blood thinners and follow the docs orders, to the letter.
 
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You Sir, are a very fortunate person. Buy a lottery ticket or two.

I'm fortunate to have a friend like JD,,,
I think I'll spend the lottery ticket money on a Mazzio's gift certificate.

He saved me over a grand in ambulance fees,,,
The least I can do is fund a Pizza Pig-Out for his family.

Aarond

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