My wife was just dianosed with a polminary embolism(age 24). had a brief st spike?

Question

Hello,
My wife age 24 was just diagnosed yesterday with having 2 pulminary embolisms in her lower right lobes. with a small lung infarction. 1 I cant sleep I worry so much about her. She seemed to be doing better today but had a spike in her ST? tonight. which caused the docors to rush in thinking she may be having a heart attack but then it went away quickly, with them saying sorry for the scare. I guess my question is that normal? Tommorrow will be her third day in the hospital how long is too long, should I be worried if she is in over the lets say six day mark? The only thing they could find is her contraceptive as a reason for this.Is this common at her age? What is her quality of life after this, is it something that goes away. I guess it's really going to stink if we always have this in the back of our heads that at anytime she can have a PE. any help would be great!

Answer 1

I'm sorry for you and your wife. Pulmonary Embolus (PE) can be a dangerous thing. Lucky it didn't kill her. Yes, oral contraceptives increase the risk of PE.

Speak with the doctors about her outlook. Only they have a clue. With luck and work, hopefully she will be back to her old self.

What does she do for work? Sit alot? Long commute in a car? Fly in coach alot? Smoke? All these things along with the Oral Contraceptive can increase the incidence of deep vein thrombus, which can break free and become a PE.

An increase in the ST wavelength of an ECG is sometehing that the docs should have looked into. Lucky it was nothing.

FYI - she only has one right lower lobe.

She will need to be hospitalized until she is stable and the lung infarct is resolved or stable, and the embolus is as stable as can be made, if not disolved.

She will probably be on anticoagulants (blood thinners) for the rest of her life, and not be able to take contraceptives any more.

Again - does she (or you) smoke? If so, now is the time to quit.

Again, I beg of you to have a long frnak discussion with the doctors. You seem to have alot of questions. Take pen and paper with you. Write it all down. With all the stuff happening, it is normal to forget all or most of what they tell you and mix it up later. Be sure what you write is correct. Ask for clarification of any medical terms. Get it in language thatyou can understand. After speaking with the docs, and you need more clarification, show the nurses what you wrote and ask them to explain it to you.

I can tell that you have a sensory overload going on.

Google (I mean YAHOO) Pulmonary Embolus and get some good information off of some sites that are reputable, like webMD.

Answer 2

Most likely she has blood clots throughout her body just like the rest of the world does. It's just that some people have a higher amount Good Cholestorl which is what cleans the veins and arteries. Calcium and Omega 6 is what makes up most of the clot, only 20 % is cholestorol -- this is because the Artery is damaged -- Cholestorol is an anti-oxidant, sent there to protect it so it can heal, which rarely happens -- There's a lot more to it than that but to move on ....----- There are treatments for blood clots -- They can be quite expensive but you can take the slow route also. Since she will be on blood thinners forever the doctor will most likely tell her to stay away from Vitamin K ---------- BUT!!!!!!!! Vitamin K helps the body absorb 55% more calcium --- that is why the blood clot will never be cleaned ----- ------ ------ The second route is increasing her good cholestorol which can be done by taking 1000 Mg of Niacinamide each day and eating more fat, less carbs --- Yep, sounds dumb but it worked for me. (there are tribes in Africa that eat no meat -- they have more heart attacks than anybody else in the world ------ proof that saturated fat does not cause blood clots and if it did, lions would not exist)

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Answer 3

I had a pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis at 19, which wasn't common. I was in the hospital for about a week. They want to keep you from moving around because that can cause the clots to dislodge. They also like to keep checking the levels of blood thinner they are giving you. They will likely test her for other factors that might make her more predisposed to clotting, besides the birth control. She will be on blood thinners for a while, as well. If she ends up having some high risk disorder, she might have to be on them for the rest of her life. If it is a low risk, they usually just tell you to take an aspirin a day. The clots will eventually dissolve and she should start feeling better in a few weeks.

Good luck!

Answer 4

It can happen with a young woman as a result of hormones, but is not common. I assume she doesn't smoke. A spike in the ST segment (actually an elevation) can occur with a PE but may not mean much. She will be in the hospital on heparin or something like it IV and also started on warfarin pills, and will be there until the warfarin effect is good, usually about 5 days but can be more. It is unlikely she will have any lasting effects from this, but should change her contraceptive to a barrier method without hormones.

Talk to her doctors. If you don't understand what they say, it isn't because you are dumb, it's because they have forgotten how to explain things in plain English.

Answer 5

PE's can be deadly if they're overlooked by the doctor. When they're caught and treated appropriately, people tend to do well. The usual pattern is blood thinners for 6 months after the diagnosis - this can be troublesome because it almost always means taking Coumadin which requires regular monitoring of blood levels and being careful about what other medications and foods one takes.

Contraceptive pills can increase one's risk of PE's - especially in women who smoke. Avoiding these in the future can help.

Sometimes if there doesn't appear to be a compelling cause for PE in a patient, doctors will do a series of blood tests to look for other causes (uncommon things like protein C deficiency, protein S deficiency, etc.). The trouble is that these blood tests need to be run on a sample that was drawn while the patient was not on any blood thinners - thus, it could be done on blood that was drawn BEFORE your wife started on blood thinners or it could be done on blood drawn AFTER your wife is done with her 6 months of treatment.

PE is pretty scary - especially when it strikes at a young age. It can, however, be treated and prevented. Keep reading and asking questions!

Answer 6

birth control can increase chance of blood clots especially for smokers or women age 35+. The elevation in her ST was on an ekg or heart monitor strip. Sometimes a PE can cause that. It would be a heart attack if the clot moved to her heart or if the elevations (ST) were new, worse or in a different lead on the ekg. the ekg shows your heart rhythm from 12 different areas or leads in the heart. they should have her on blood thinners and monitor her blood work closely. they probably have her on either heparing (iv blood thinner) or lovenox(injection) along with coumadin/warfarin (pill). the pill takes 2-3 days to begin working while the other two are faster acting. once her blood work shows that her blood is thinning per the coumadin levels (pill) they should send her home. she will be on this medicine for awhile or possible forever to prevent further clots from forming. she will get periodic blood work as outpatient to monitor levels closely.

Answer 7

Pulmonary Embolism is obstruction of the pulmonary artery (which carries blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs) or one of its branches by an embolus. This is usually a blood clot that has travelled from a Deep Venous Thrombosis in the leg or pelvis. The risk is greatest after recent surgery or childbirth & in immobilised patients. Pulmonary embolism can be life-threatening if the clot is large enough to obstruct all or most blood flow from the right side of the heart to the lungs.
The nature & severity of symptoms depend on the size of the embolus. Small emboli may cause few or no symptoms. Obstruction of larger branches of the pulmonary artery can cause shortness of breath, cough, bloodstained sputum, chest pain & dizziness, Shock & collapse, & can lead to Pulmonary Hypertension & right-sided Heart Failure. Large emboli can cause sudden death.
Diagnosis can be confirmed by chest x-ray, lung scans, pulmonary angiography (contrast x-ray of the pulmonary arteries) & elctrocardiograph (ECG). Anticoagulant drugs to prevent further thrombosis, & drugs to speed up dissolving of the embolus, are given to the patient. Large emboli that threaten life need emergancy surgical removal.
Warm Regards, Starlet..

Answer 8

Christ there is a few dumb human beings at right here. as quickly as I examine the line approximately being mad the neighbor because of the fact he didn'tpersistent an American vehicle and he held him down forcing him to consume eggs that the bar became doing to throw out it became obtrusive this became a shaggy dog tale.

Answer 9

I just took a look at the other answers and they look pretty thorough, so I am just going to send you a link that describes PE's.