My Blood Clot Story Part 1

Life was going pretty well up until a night in June 2013 when A pain deep in my chest kept me awake most of the night, i did not give the pain much thought until the next morning when i saw blood in the sink after i coughed which had me worried somewhat but not enough to ring the alarm. Any way as it was saturday i was not able to make an appointment with my GP hence i called the "111" service which you call if it is not an emergency and need advice and they direct you to the relevant service you require. So after speaking to the adviser and explaining my symptoms they insisted on sending an ambulance to where i was as it was an emergency even though i was currently in the car on my way home and hesitant i would make my own way to the hospital if needs be but after much resistance i gave in and told them i want to be picked up from home. Upon arriving home the ambulance was already waiting for me and the crew sat me inside the ambulance and made their way to the hospital quickly. When i got to the hospital they suspected Tuberculosis and did blood tests after which i laid down and rested while waiting for my test results which took over an hour. The consultant in A&E then came and gave me an anticoagulant Tinzaparin injection and told me that i had blood clots and they would still keep me secluded until Tuberculosis was ruled out and also that i was not able to move at all and even had to use a commode in case the clots went to my lungs. I still did not think of this as a big deal infact I don't think that I did at all.

The next day i was taken for other tests including a CT scan which then ruled out tuberculosis and diagnosed me with large bilateral pulmonary embolisms with infarction on the right lower lobe which i found out later upon reading my discharge summary. As the day progressed my condition worsened and may pain increased. I was not able to move due to the severe pain in my chest and god forbid if i had to cough it was much worse and i was coughing up lots of blood and clots for the next few days and even simple things like walking to the bathroom was so difficult. I was on lots of pain relief including codeine, paracetamol and morphine which all did not make any difference to my extreme pain.

After a few days i had a situation where i just could not breath and if i was able to it was causing me the worst pain i have ever had and trust me when i say this as i have a pretty high pain threshold so i called the nurse and tried telling her i couldn't breath and needed oxygen, those few moments of my life are ones i will never forget I actually felt like i was dying and the nurse just stood there and watched me and said she could not give me anything without approval from a consultant and that she would have to ask them. After a while of suffering from extreme pain i felt a little better and the next day i was given the oxygen. My mum had to bathe me as i was unable to and i just felt so helpless.

I was in hospital for 11 days before being discharged and sent home with Warfarin tablets. I had to do my own research i was not given much information let alone my actual diagnosis i was just told that i had clots in my lungs and i was lucky to be alive. I was so glad to be home i was a little normal after a few days, i was no longer coughing up blood and was moving around a bit more as i never have been ill before this and rarely ever stayed in bed with any illness. I still had pain in my chest which was worse at times but i think i had become quite accustomed to it after so many days.

The next few months passed and i was in and out of hospital having my blood tests to keep my INR in check and even went in to A&E a few times due to severe chest pain and was told to go home as i could not get more clots while on an anticoagulant. I slept every night with the thought of it being my last as the pain persisted and became part of my life. I did not remember what it was like to be normal and not feel any pain or fatigue.

After 6 months in January 2014 i was taken of the warfarin and was told if i had another clot i would be on them for life, i could not wait to get of them and i did. I did ask the lady if the clots had actually gone as I still experienced pain and she was absolutely sure they were gone even though I had absolutely no tests to prove this. Also at this point there was no information as to what caused the clots and she asked me if there was anyone in my family who had ever had clots and they would only do further tests if there was so i told her that my grandma had died a few days after having my uncle and i was told that her leg had swelled up too, i told a little white lie about the actual problem though it could be true but there was no diagnosis as it was abroad years ago and my family are not sure.

I was later diagnosed with Factor V Leiden a blood clotting disorder. I was seeing a haematologist who suggested i did not need any anticoagulant but if i was to get more clots then without choice i would have to remain on anticoagulants for life.