The Memorial Page.
After hearing about the memorial page, I finally decided to visit it to find out the reasons behind the deaths. Pulmonary embolism and pnemonia came up quite a few times, as well as heart attacks. We know who to avoid pnemonia. We have to practice breathing in an apparatus given to us by the hospital, but how does one go about preventing pulmonary embolism? Asprin as a preventative to clots? Just thinking about a couple of precautions. We should all try to learn something from the deaths of the past members so they will not have passed in vain.
Very sincerely,
Marcy Northrup, 39
Tampa-ish, Florida
400+
The only thing I know to prevent a pulmonary embolism is to get up and walk as soon after surgery as feasibly possible and keep it up. My surgeon has his patients walking shortly after surgery plus, he wont let his patients back into bed on the second day in the hospital until bedtime. You can sit in a glider or walk but you cant lay down. Sounds harsh, but it must work or he wouldn't require it. I started taking an aspirin a day last month when I saw the cardiologist for my stress test, but since then I found out I have a healthy heart, so I don't know if it matters or not to keep taking it. I am fearful of winding up on the respirator more than anything. That was the one thing the cardiologist put into my mind (that because of my weight I would have a hard time with that) and I cant shake it, but I try to think positive.
Amy 
Marcy, my surgeon has a strict regimen for fighting pulmonay embolisms. first, before you go in to surgery they put compression stockings on you and you wear them the entire time you are in the hospital. These stockings are hooked up to a machine that pumps air in and out of them, massaging your legs, and keeping the blood flowing through them. While you are in the hospital, you get heprin injections, and for 10 day after you leave the hospital, you get lovenox injections,(these are both blood thinners). He wants you walking as soon after surgery as possible,(within a few hours), and as often as possible after that, literally every couple of hours. And last but not least, if you have a history of clots, or a BMI over 50, he makes you get an I.V.C. filter. An I.V.C. filter is a little filter they put in your vein, between your legs and your lungs, and if you throw a clot the filter catches it and hold it until your body can break it down. It's sort of like a kitchen strainer, normally your blood just flows right through it, but if you have something thick like a clot, it catches it, and them your anti bodies break it down. The filter is put in about three weeks before surgery as an outpatient procedure, it's done under local anesthetia, and stays in your body forever. There are no bad side effects of having the filter in your body, and it will prevent pulmonary embolisms forever. Since my surgeon starting using these filters, he has not had a patient have a pulmonary embolism, that was over 150 patients ago.
Marcy,
I dont remember reading about this before, I must have missed that post. But wouldnt it be hard to do both simultaneously since you wouldnt know how much body/tummy you need to lift until after you are successful with the surgery? Help me understand what you are looking to do? Sorry but I'm confused.
Amy 
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