What I thought were gas pains turned out to be major blood clots.

[potpieiii 19]

I was sleeved on Oct. 1st and did good for the first week. The second week I started to go downhill ...quick. I had extreme pain in my lower back and right side near my ribs. I just assumed it was gas pain combined with my already low pain tolerance. Finally, the pain got so bad, and so constant, I checked myself in to the Emergency Room at the nearest hospital. There, they discovered I had blood in my urine, and ordered a CT Scan. Almost immediately after the CT Scan, the doctor came back and told me they discovered blood clots in a very unusual place: the arteries going from my spleen and my liver, as well as my lungs.

I spent the night in the hospital and the kept me on an anti-clotting drug called Coumadin, and dilaudid for pain. They paged my surgeon who came in first thing the next morning to tell me he had been brainstorming with numerous other doctors on what went wrong and what could be done to save my life.

He told me the hospital I was currently at did not have the team of doctors nor the medical equipment necessary to help me. So I was immediately transported by ambulance to another hospital in Denver.

To say the least, I was TERRIFIED. Immediately upon arrival at the new hospital I went straight to the ICU where my husband and grandmother were waiting. They spared no time in getting me prepped for the first of three surgeries to remove the clots.

I remember only bits and pieces after that. Mostly just the extreme pain, and fear. I remember being so weak, and my husband and grandmother stayed by my side the entire time. (Backstory: my grandma raised me, so she is more like my mom.)

My husband brushed my hair, held my hand while they poked me endlessly with needles, and even brushed my teeth. One memory I have was right after my second surgery, and being so afraid, so I asked my grandma to hold my hand.

Thanks to God and my team of doctors, upon completing the third surgery, all blood clots (with the exception of the one in my lung) were removed. I was then able to get out of the ICU and into a private room.

Then the hardest part began: finding out why this happened. Every day for two weeks they drew blood two, sometimes three, times per day; sending the samples to various places around the country for testing.

Finally, they found the answer. I am part of 2% of the nation that is a carrier for a genetic mutation/blood disorder called Prothrombin 20210a. I'm 31 years old and have never had any symptoms. But the only way of knowing about this genetic mutation would have been for me to have genetic testing done prior to surgery (which is extremely expensive and most health insurance companies do not cover that). Also, six years ago I had surgery to remove my gallbladder and had ZERO issues.

The moral of the story is this: There are risks for any surgery. It's not my surgeon's fault, it's not my own fault. It it what it is. Would I go through the surgery now, even knowing about my blood disorder? I would have to talk to my surgeon to see if, knowing my problem, there would have been any precautions that could have been taken to avoid me almost losing my life, or see if my surgeon would even think I could be a candidate for the sleeve surgery.

Bottom line is, I'm happy to be alive. I'm happy to be blessed with so many people that love and care about me.

Just know that no matter how much planning we do, there are always risks involved.

[Someguy1383837857 18]

So sorry to hear what you had to go through, but it is great that you are on the mend and now you are aware of your condition. Good luck!

[italian-girl 152]

I was sleeved on Oct. 1st and did good for the first week. The second week I started to go downhill ...quick. I had extreme pain in my lower back and right side near my ribs. I just assumed it was gas pain combined with my already low pain tolerance. Finally' date=' the pain got so bad, and so constant, I checked myself in to the Emergency Room at the nearest hospital. There, they discovered I had blood in my urine, and ordered a CT Scan. Almost immediately after the CT Scan, the doctor came back and told me they discovered blood clots in a very unusual place: the arteries going from my spleen and my liver, as well as my lungs.

I spent the night in the hospital and the kept me on an anti-clotting drug called Coumadin, and dilaudid for pain. They paged my surgeon who came in first thing the next morning to tell me he had been brainstorming with numerous other doctors on what went wrong and what could be done to save my life.

He told me the hospital I was currently at did not have the team of doctors nor the medical equipment necessary to help me. So I was immediately transported by ambulance to another hospital in Denver.

To say the least, I was TERRIFIED. Immediately upon arrival at the new hospital I went straight to the ICU where my husband and grandmother were waiting. They spared no time in getting me prepped for the first of three surgeries to remove the clots.

I remember only bits and pieces after that. Mostly just the extreme pain, and fear. I remember being so weak, and my husband and grandmother stayed by my side the entire time. (Backstory: my grandma raised me, so she is more like my mom.)

My husband brushed my hair, held my hand while they poked me endlessly with needles, and even brushed my teeth. One memory I have was right after my second surgery, and being so afraid, so I asked my grandma to hold my hand.

Thanks to God and my team of doctors, upon completing the third surgery, all blood clots (with the exception of the one in my lung) were removed. I was then able to get out of the ICU and into a private room.

Then the hardest part began: finding out why this happened. Every day for two weeks they drew blood two, sometimes three, times per day; sending the samples to various places around the country for testing.

Finally, they found the answer. I am part of 2% of the nation that is a carrier for a genetic mutation/blood disorder called Prothrombin 20210a. I'm 31 years old and have never had any symptoms. But the only way of knowing about this genetic mutation would have been for me to have genetic testing done prior to surgery (which is extremely expensive and most health insurance companies do not cover that). Also, six years ago I had surgery to remove my gallbladder and had ZERO issues.

The moral of the story is this: There are risks for any surgery. It's not my surgeon's fault, it's not my own fault. It it what it is. Would I go through the surgery now, even knowing about my blood disorder? I would have to talk to my surgeon to see if, knowing my problem, there would have been any precautions that could have been taken to avoid me almost losing my life, or see if my surgeon would even think I could be a candidate for the sleeve surgery.

Bottom line is, I'm happy to be alive. I'm happy to be blessed with so many people that love and care about me.

Just know that no matter how much planning we do, there are always risks involved.[/quote']

Happy to hear you're well and alive. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Thank you for sharing your story.

[Seela 1,187]

Your story is incredible! You must be an incredibly special person for God to put you through all of that knowing you would come out of it an inspiration. I believe you have many special moments to come and that you will graciously embrace each one. Thank you so much, you are truly special.

[Arts137 1,811]

glad you are a fighter and still with us!!!

[Bufflehead 6,358]

Thank goodness for your very proactive and caring surgeon and entire medical team. A rare disorder like that often goes undiagnosed even after symptoms start showing up. You had a great team and awesome family support - I am so glad they came through for you. Best wishes to you going forward.

[LipstickLady 25,682]

I can only imagine how afraid you were. I'm happy to hear that all turned out well and that you are now aware of your disorder. I wish you much success on your sleeve journey!

[Tiny One 223]

Glad you are doing well & continue to be an inspiration.

[Bronco0605 135]

Wow, I am so glad that you are recovering well now. What an ordeal! I think you are right to post this though and make sure that people are aware that even though rare these events do occur and ARE LIFE THREATENING. In the course of pre- op testing acongenital heart conditon was discovered which I never knew I had. We can never be too careful!

Take care! I hope you continue to heal well!

[tignet 20]

I am so glad you went to the emergency room and got there on time. I have had many surgeries and often wonder about blood clots afterwards. Your experience will help us to realize and be cautious about the pains we feel while healing. I am glad you are doing well.

[gmanbat 5,889]

Man I am glad you made it through this! I am glad you took action rather than just putting up with it!

On the positive side now you have this essential bit of information about your condition which will help if and when operations appear in your future, the proper precautions can be taken now.

I agree with Tignet, don't be afraid, folks, to talk to your health staff about pains. It is much better for them to think of you as an overly cautious pain in the arse then to have a serious condition that does you great harm. Make 'em earn their pay!

[Meliss000 283]

Glad your on the mend! Where in Denver are you located? I'm in Aurora, there are a few of us around this board... It would be fun to do a meet and greet

[Roo101769 742]

I am so sorry to hear your journey has been so difficult so far, but very glad to read your story knowing you are still here and able to write it! I too have blood clotting issues. The problem, no one knows why. I too have been tested for any blood clotting disorder under the sun with negative results. It all started years ago when I developed a superficial clot in my right leg. It wasn't a DVT, but it DID hurt the same. I spent a week in bed and then weeks recovering. Years went by and it was forgotten. Then in 2011 I had knee surgery to clean up some arthritis. Surgery went fine, but two days later I developed a DVT behind my knee. I was hospitalized and a day later had and embolism that resulted in blood clots in both of my lungs. I too spent a few days in ICU. That DVT was determined to be because of the surgery, so I spent 6months on blood thinners then went back to my normal life. Early this year I started having problems with my right leg. I feared it was another clot, so I had it checked. In March they said no clot, but probably vasculitis. About a month after my leg was worse, red and swollen from mid calf to my foot. I was checked again and this time a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) was found in my upper thigh. Since there was no known cause, this is what set off the first round of testing. I was put on Lovenox injections for about a week, followed by oral warfarin.(Coumadin) It takes about 3-4 days for warfarin to reach full effectiveness in your system. Anyway, I stayed off work a couple weeks to allow the swelling to go down. I returned to work and on the second day my leg ballooned up and was bright red. My doctor had me sent back to the ER to have the leg rescanned. This time they found the clot had grown larger, and had started to move further up in my vein. A small piece had broken free and I had a second pulmonary embolism. Given the fact I had been under treatment for several weeks when this occurred, that set off alarm bells. I was now being seen by a vascular doctor and a hematologist. I was fitted with an IVC filter to catch any further clots before they reach my heart/lungs. The hematologist ordered every other test imaginable to determine why I was clotting like this. To this day the answer is still unknown. The reason I decided to have WLS in part was to help improve my circulation. I had to clear it with each doctor who treated me for the clots, as well as the other clearances needed. I am on blood thinners for the rest of my life, with surgery I just had to switch from oral to injections for about a week. Since I have the filter already in place, the risk of another embolism was much smaller. ( If I did develop more clots) I walked into surgery a very high risk patient. I took every precaution I could, but knew it was a gamble. And luckily I walked out fairly unscathed. I do have some issues with a couple incisions due to the blood thinners effecting my healing time. ( and the tissue is a bit "mush" ) Other than that I was fortunate that I did ok. Sorry for the long story, but wanted you to know I feel for you and have an idea how you feel. Good luck, speedy recovery, and hope it is smooth sailing here out!!!

[jinxxy5 151]

Thanks for sharing your story and I'm glad you're in the road to recovery!

[potpieiii 19]

Thanks everyone! :-) I definitely learned to listen to my body and if something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.