Vascular consult update

I had another leg ultrasound today. The good news is that things didn’t get worse and nothing new showed up. The clot/thrombus is still there and it’s going to take time to dissolve. My leg feels a bit softer when you poke a finger into it, which is an improvement.

Best news is that I don’t have to continue Lovenox shots. Thank you, God. Really and truly, thank you. I’m back on Xarelto once a day in a teeny tiny little red pill taken with dinner. No Lovenox should mean no nausea and better sleep quality as well as not being a pin cushion.

Strange news is that my belly actually has two large hematomas as well as some smaller ones. Everyone was quite impressed by their size. The one on the left has been there for 3 weeks and does seem a bit smaller, but it’s still quite hard. The one on the right side, up closer to the bottom of the bra, has been there a week and is 6″ x 4″, and quite angry around the margins. I’m to use a heating pad 4 times a day for 20 minutes, and ice for the same, for a week before checking in again by phone. If it’s not getting any smaller, she’s going to send me for a CT scan.

There really isn’t any bad news, which is good news.

My poor tummy

I’ve been injecting my tummy with Lovenox twice a day for the last 30 days as prescribed by the vein specialist. I’ve never done injections before but didn’t think it would be all that hard. After all, I’d already been through two months of once-daily Lovenox shots when in rehab last year, and while I didn’t like it, it wasn’t hard.

No one told me to expect to get hard lumps at injection sites. Bruising, yes, because I’m injecting blood thinners and the bruises are blood bruises. But not the lumps. And now my tummy is full of small hard spots and two really swollen ones on each side that are at least 4-5 inches long and 3 inches wide, hard as a rock and very sore around the margins. I feel as though an alien is poking out through the stomache.

Tomorrow I go back to the vein guy for another leg ultrasound to see if the clot is actually dissolving, which is of course the goal. I know it’s not gone because my leg is still swollen, though it might be a bit better. But we are definitely going to have a chat about Lovenox and what other options I have. Because there has to be one and I do NOT want to keep stabbing myself with needles.