Question:
I just visited the memorial page and am very sad for those who lost their lives

mostly due to complications from their surgeries. It also scared me!!! What can be done to prevent blood clots besides blood thinner and leg stockings and how long after surgery are blood clots a risk?    — YvonneBryant (posted on May 27, 2002)

May 26, 2002
Hi Sherry. I'm having my surgery next month, and I'm concerned about the risk of blood clots too. I've heard that the elevated risk lasts exists for up to three months, but it's definitely the highest in the week or so. The best thing you can do to prevent blood clots is to walk. Get up out of bed as soon as you possibly can... the same day that you have surgery is best. Talk with your surgeon about that ahead of time -- make sure he/she has put a note in your chart about it (otherwise the nursing staff may not want to let you try). Then, get up and walk frequently (every 1-2 hours) the whole time you're in the hospital, and keept doing it after you're back home. Don't sit still for more than an hour at a time. If you are at high risk for clots, you might talk to your surgeon about the possibility of getting a Greenfield Filter installed. It's a little metal thing-y that they insert in your vena cava to prevent blood clots from making it to your lungs and becoming lethal pulmonary embolisms. However, it's not a standard practice -- usually it's only offered to patients who already have a history of deep vein thrombosis. Good luck with your surgery. And try not to stress -- the overall risk is quite low. Just remember to get up and walk! :-)
   — Tally

May 27, 2002
The answer is walk, walk, and then walk again. I am 2 weeks 4 days post-op. I too was scared of blood clots. I had made a promise to myself that I would walk everytime I went to the bathroom. I was up from my bed and walking the halls just 45 minutes after surgery. Due to the IV fluids, I went to the bathroom frequently... I was up walking more than I was in my bed. Also, the walking helps rid your body of the anestheia and the gas they pump you full... because of all the walking I did, not once did I get a pain in my shoulders, arms, legs from the gas. Best wishes to you.
   — juliehedges

May 27, 2002
I was incredibly worried about blood clots & whatnot, especially since I have terrible feet pain (planters flah-blah-blah-blah <not sure how to say this diagnosis> and have 4 bone spurs in each foot) and can not walk as much as everyone kept telling me to walk ~ the pain was too excruciating. My surgeon keeps all his patients on Heparin (blood thinner) for 3 weeks after surgery - I had to administer shots 3 times a day and they hurt somewhat but I was thankful since I couldn't move around as much as I'd like to. I'm 7-weeks out (on Tuesday) and the weight is coming off and the pain in my feet is getting better but it's still not great and I still can't tolerate walking a lot or standing for long periods of time. I've done just fine - I was scared to death about the blood clots because I had read about a woman who had made it to a 50 lb. loss and had a clot move through her heart vessels and she died suddenly. There are risk of blood clots with every surgery, I do know that. Ask your doc for the blood thinning medication, if you can't move around as much as you would like. I bought some extra "ted" hose - the leg stockings that you mentioned and although they were spendy, I kept using them up until my 6-week point. Try not to worry too much - there are so many issues that come up from this surgery - it's the emotional roller coaster of life - if it's not one worry, it's another. Write if you want to visit more - I'm an email away. :) Good luck to you.
   — Lisa J.

May 27, 2002
My wife and I both had surgery on March 7th 2002 (an hour apart) and my wife developed a clot (I guess) immediately after surgery...it was found day 3 post-op when they did the post-op doppler tests. She is on Coumadin now until 3 months has passed and they will do a new check. However, I developed a clot a little over a month after surgery. It started out as a severe leg cramp which showed nothing with a new doppler test...so it was deemed as a common cramp and it was treated with Quinine. A few weeks later, I felt like someone stabbed me in the right lung and a few days later, the left lung. I developed a large clot in the same spot the cramp was and it shot 1 large clot to my right lung and 2 smaller clots to the left. I had emergency surgery where an umbrella filter was put in through the groin and beneath my lung to catch any further shooters (the leg clot is a floating clot) and am now also on Coumadin to help dissolve the clots. So you people who have had or are close to having this surgery shouldn't worry too much...just be careful and walk as much as you can. I didn't and my wife can't due to needing a knee replacement.
   — Glenn M.