Woke this morning to about 1 inch of new snow.
I had to wait more than 2 hours for Dr. Gorman because he had been called to an emergency at the hospital.
When, Dr. Gorman got back to the office he spent well over an hour with me!
Okay...now the skinny on my heart. Dr. Gorman said I am NOT A TICKING TIME BOMB! The blood clot in the right atrium of my heart is most probably NOT going to MOVE - if it were to move - it would have already moved. Although the echocardiogram reveals that the blood clot is "Mobile", it is tethered too. If the blood clot were to detach and go to my lung, it is "marble sized" and would not cause that much damage - but, again Dr. Gorman stressed that the clot was not going anywhere. I may have this blood clot forever.
Most importantly, I DO NOT NEED TO LIMIT MY ACTIVITY in any way. I can walk, hike, and even shovel snow!
As for the right sided chest pain that had me in the emergency room on January 17 2012, Dr. Gorman said that might have been a very small clot from an IV stick that went to my right lung and caused the pain - even though I had a negative (normal) CT Pulmonary Angiogram.
I told Dr. Gorman that the right sided chest pain radiating to my neck continued until I took 8 mg of dexamethasone by mouth January 18 2012 (I had some from my pre-stem cell transplant). So, I now have a gut ache, but the pain in my chest, although not gone, is much better.
I told Dr. Gorman that the pain might have been from the Zometa that I received on January 16 2012. I've only had Zometa 2 times prior and both of those times, I also received 20 to 40 mg of IV Dex with it. Both of the prior times, I ached all over for a couple of days after, but never a pain like I had after this last dose.
Dr. Gorman felt like the 12,500 mg Fragmin was adequate to continue on for at least 6 months. After 6 months, he will take me off the Fragmin and see how I do. I'll have to continue some blood thinner even after the Fragmin since I'll be on Revlimid which can cause blood clots.
Dr. Gorman would like to follow my blood clot with echocardiograms every month - so, I'll get my next one on February 5 2012.
We discussed the need for intravenous access down the road if my veins don't hold up. He thought a pic-line that terminated above the heart and not in the heart would be the best option for me....but, I wondered to myself if they have buried port that would terminate above the heart...less chance of infection.
I left Idaho Falls on a real HIGH - I am so relieved!
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