Blood Clot Update #2

Blood Clot Update #1 got posted on July 6, and there really wasn't much to say on the subject since then. Here's a summary:

I've been on blood thinning medication -- either Coumadin or Lovenox -- for this "DVT" (which stands for "Deep-Vein Thrombosis") since then. And I've been wearing a compression stocking on my right leg since then as well. Full-length stocking. Very fashionable. Not. And it keeps falling down, so I have to hide someplace to undo my pants, reach down inside the pant leg to my knee and pull the doggone thing up again.

The medical concern is that part of the clot might break loose and travel up the vein to my lungs or brain, either of which can be fatal. If it travels to your lung it's called a "pulmonary embolism." And something like 200,000 people a year die of that happening every year. And that's more than the number of people who die of AIDS and breast cancer combined.

Point being, this clot thing can be a very serious issue.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I had a second ultrasound scan on my leg to check on the clot. There was some hope on my part that the clot would have disappeared, since pain in my calf was long gone, and the (minor) swelling that existed when the clot was found was almost gone as well.

Good news/bad news: the scan showed that the clot was much smaller than it had been back in July when the first scan was taken. But it's still there.

So my chemo doc wants me to stay on Coumadin for another six weeks and then get a third scan. The hope, of course, is that the clot will disappear completely and I can stop taking the blood thinner and get rid of this stupid stocking. (The doc has warned me about doing things that might cause a wound -- like falling off a unicycle -- as the cut would not scab over and heal nearly as quickly as it normally would, due to the medication. So my one-wheel has been hanging on a hook all summer and fall. And I've avoided some house repairs. And my workouts in the gym have been restricted by the selfsame doc.)

If the clot disappears, much of life returns to normal.

But I'm not at all sure what happens if the clot is still there. My doc says he'll stop the Coumadin prescription regardless, since the drug is unlikely to be useful any more. But whether he would tell me to "take it easy" on exercise for the rest of my life and whether I have to keep wearing this full-leg stocking forever are unknowns.

I decided simply not to ask and hope for the best.