By Rosaland Edward
Special to the AFRO
It was a cheeky – and what I thought was a witty– comment to a family member, that possibly saved my life. My mother remarked that my legs were not as good looking and spectacular as I thought they were. Bouncing out of her home, I said over my shoulder, “my legs are getting bigger, especially the right one!”
She noticed the swelling in my right leg, so she stopped me mid-step, placed her behind my right knee, felt that it was warm to the touch and insisted I go immediately to a hospital.
I did, and after the examining doctor diagnosed a blood clot, or deep vein thrombosis, he advised me to go home and kiss my mother for possibly having saved my life. After that I had to self-inject medication into my stomach for a period of three months.
Things in the medical community have changed since then. That was in 2007. But in 2024 over the New Year’s holiday, my daughter and I along with several friends traveled to Tulum, Mexico for a steamy vacation in a tropical climate at a luxury resort. We spent most of our days poolside or relaxing on the beach and enjoyed our nights dining in restaurants serving up local cuisine with the spiciness Mexican food is renowned for. I was, of course, vigilant about what I consumed, i.e., not drinking the water or eating anything undercooked. But near the end of the trip, my stomach began to twist and turn. I had to stay near a bathroom and hope I could stay hydrated enough to make it back to Atlanta without incident.
No such luck. But getting ill with an intestinal infection turned out to be my saving grace.
After a couple more days of being so sick I couldn’t keep water down, I went to the hospital for medical treatment. While my major complaint was dehydration and being so weak that I couldn’t climb stairs and was barely able to get out of bed, doctors at Atlanta’s Emory Hospital decided to admit me for observation overnight. The staff had a difficult time drawing blood since my veins were so deflated and the hospital lab sent whatever blood samples they got back because the blood was clotted.
I could see after the third or fourth attempt to collect blood samples that the blood was clotting as it entered the vial. On day three of that “overnight” stay, a nurse came into my room shaking her head as she delivered the news that I had two blood clots in my right leg. That’s when things really got serious.
I thought all of my symptoms–diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue, shortness of breath, lightheadedness and my heart racing a million miles an hour. None of those indicated to me that there was anything else going on. But with the blood clots there were no symptoms, ergo spending three days in the hospital before the experts even decided to order an ultrasound.
After discovering the clots, I explained to the doctor examining me that I felt perfectly fine before traveling and that the flight from Atlanta to Cancun was less than two hours, so I hadn’t been sitting for any extraordinary amount of time. But, I am an editor and I sit for long periods of time in front of a computer. Prolonged inactivity is a key factor in DVT or deep vein thrombosis and should be closely monitored.
Both my medical team and I concluded that I had the clots before the trip to Mexico and there was no telling how long they had been sitting there lodged in behind my knee in my right leg. Of course, the real concern-turned-blessing is that they had not traveled to my lungs or heart. I had not had pulmonary embolism, and they had been discovered in time to begin a course of treatment. This time with no painful self-injections, I was instructed to take Eliquis twice daily and most likely we’ll have to take the drug for the rest of my life.
Blood clots typically form deep within the veins of the legs, which is referred to as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and can travel through the body. In addition to being potentially life threatening, one of the scariest parts about a blood clot is that most times they go undetected, resulting in pulmonary embolism and death when leg clots break free and become lodged in the lungs. In my case I ignored the swelling in my knee, attributing it to arthritis or anything but a blood clot. I had no pain; it wasn’t warm to the touch and basically was unnoticeable. I can only thank God that the clot– or clots– did not break free and travel to my heart or lungs which could have caused several serious maladies, including stroke and even death.
If you suspect that blood clotting may be an issue, watch for these symptoms which may be warning signs:
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Hemoptysis (blood stained mucus)
- Rapid heart rate
- Swelling
- Leg swelling
- Skin discoloration
- Varicose vein changes
- Warmth in the suspected area
Bottomline, pay attention to your body, take care of your health and if you suspect you may have a blood clot, don’t walk but don’t run either to your nearest treatment facility and get yourself checked out.
It might save your life.