deep vein thrombosis

Just when we thought we'd be getting Rick's carpal tunnel surgery behind us, there's a kink in the plans. Last week Rick had been experiencing some pain in his calf and several days later he knew something was not right. Having experience in the medical field, Rick suspected that he may have a blot clot forming in his leg.

Last March, he'd had vascular surgery to repair some veins in his legs. At that time, he'd experienced some blot clots, but over time with the recovery, the symptoms dissipated. Now nine months later, the DVT symptoms seem to have come out of no where.

He went in to the doctor and sure enough it wasn't one clot, but three fully formed clots with another rapidly forming. The technician had asked if he'd had any trauma to the leg. They could tell the clots were fast forming, and can't figure out what's triggering the fast formation. He was immediately put on anti-coagulation medication including a twice daily shot he has to self-administer into his stomach. :(

While the blood thinning meds should prevent new clots from forming, we're waiting for the doctor to tell us what the plan is for the currently clots in his leg. Fortunately they're below the knee at this point. Biggest risk is for the clot to dislodge and travel up an main artery into the heart or brain, so needless to say, his doctor is closely monitoring the situation.

And since he's on blood thinners, the hand surgery scheduled for later this week will likely be canceled and postponed until we can get the Thrombosis under control.

It's definitely been hard on him -- just shy of 40 and dealing with these health issues. We called his father's uncle (the side of the family he has virtually no interaction with) to learn more about his paternal health history. It seems that his grandfather had both his legs amputated, and another uncle lost a leg as well. But while the DVT may be genetic, we both realize that his grandfather's outcome was likely a result of limited health care and precautions (heavy drinking and smoking).

And so now we're just hoping we can get this resolved before we fly to Maui in March.