Mar 27, 2024

Blood Clots May be Prevented

Blood Clot Awareness

March is blood clot awareness month. Blood clots do not discriminate. They can occur among any of us regardless of race, gender, age, and socioeconomic class.

According to the North American Thrombosis Forum which is dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by blood clots and related diseases, if diagnosed with a blood clot, it’s important for us to move around every 1-2 hours. According to stoptheclot.org, the first sign of a blood clot may seem similar to a pulled muscle or charley horse, “but may differ in that the leg or arm may be swollen or slightly discolored and warm.”
Other reported symptoms are: “...shortness of breath, passing out or feeling light headed, heart racing, sharp chest pain,... coughing and sometimes coughing up blood.”

Our bodies produce blood clots as a way to stop bleeding from damaged blood vessels in order to promote healing. “[Blood clots] can also develop in response to [injuries] or trauma [our bodies] experience during surgeries or other medical procedures.”

If untreated, blood clots can be fatal!

When former patients with blood clots were asked “What’s one thing you wished you knew when diagnosed?” Here are some of their answers.

Wish I knew that “healing takes more time than my doctor indicated.” While recovering from blood clots, many patients stated that some days they felt better and more active than other days. There were days where they were pain free and other days they experienced acute pain. Even though this can feel like a setback, over weeks or months, the “good” days reportedly outnumbered the “bad” days as their bodies and minds recovered.

2. Wish I knew “that it’s so frustrating to look ‘fine’ to everyone, but not feel ‘fine’.” Blood clots may present as invisible, especially the kind of blood clot related to pulmonary embolisms. The person may look normal to family and friends while it may take several months for the patient to fully recover.

3. Wish I knew “that recovering from a blood clot is just as much ‘mental’ as it is ‘physical.’” Patients are frequently surprised at the importance of mental recovery following blood clots. It may NOT be as easy to overcome the revelation of a near death experience as we may think. Hearing things like “you were a ticking time bomb” or “woah, you’re fortunate to even be alive” can cause anxiety and emotional trauma that could be an obstacle to full recovery IF not addressed.

4. Wish I knew “… that I shouldn’t feel bad about going to the ER in medical distress—since that’s why the ER was designed. Sometimes patients worry that going to the ER is “ungodly,... a waste of time” or "what if I go and I’m fine, and it’s all for nothing.” Proverbs 3:5-6 advises us to “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all [our] ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct [our] paths.” As Apostle Viola loves to remind us, “God wants us healthy, wealthy and wise.” He is the ONLY source of our healing. He is the Great Physician. And He allows miracles to occur daily working mysteriously through the doctors and earthly resources/remedies He created to restore good health.

Emergency rooms and nurse hotlines exist for patients needing restoration. Both are resources to “identify if there is a problem that needs to be treated or not…”

Each insurance company has a toll free nurse hotline # 24 hrs 7 days a week. The Nurse Advice hotline “provides support and guidance for any non-emergency situation. The service is personal, confidential and available at no cost.”

Blood clots may be prevented by:
Regular exercise
Walking or moving every 1-2 hours esp when traveling for long periods
Keep legs raised while sitting
Educating ourselves on nutrition and losing weight if required
We can wear compression socks or tights
We can take a daily regimen of low dose aspirin under the regimen of your doctor.
AND WebMD advises blood clot patients to avoid caffeine and sedatives.

There is a home evaluation known as the Homan’s test that can be conducted by laying flat on one’s back and extending the knee of the suspected leg. Have a loved one raise the extended leg 10 degrees and squeeze the calf. A deep pain in the calf is indicative of a blood clot forming or deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Should this happen, one is advised to contact his doctor as soon as possible because immediate treatment may be warranted.

With God on our side, we can make it!

National Blood Clot Alliance
WedMD.org
Stoptheclot.org