Learning the Symptoms
Nurse Shares DVT Journey
Gary Newman
Ashland Beacon
Just outside of the scope of a month of DVT awareness, many still don’t know much about this condition that can cause a series of severe problems and in some cases, death. The Mayo clinic website points out, “Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) occurs when a blood clot (thrombus) forms in one or more of the deep veins in the body, usually in the legs.”
ICU nurse, Brandy York can tell you all about it. She’s been through it, and emerged determined to share what she’d learned with others about the danger of DVTs and the serious issues they can cause. For her, she didn’t fit the typical profile for a DVT patient. She was very active, not overweight, didn’t travel, worked 3-4 12-hour shifts, didn’t take any hormone drugs, so why would she ever think she’d have a blood clot in her leg, but she had one. It was an unprovoked blood clot in her left lower calf.
“It all started with what I thought was a Charlie horse that didn’t diminish with any normal methods, and the next day it was super sore. I resorted to massaging my calf, even asked husband to rub my leg because it hurt,” York recounted, “Then, the soreness went away over the next couple of days.” While the soreness had subsided, some new symptoms had arisen.
While the symptoms of a deep vein thrombosis usually present as site soreness, warm, swelling, they can become serious quickly because blood clots in the veins can break and travel through the bloodstream into the lungs, blocking blood flow (pulmonary embolism). PEs often attribute to difficulty breathing, and even death. They are very serious.
“Then I started having shortness of breath when making my bed, panting when walking up the stairs, I had stabbing chest pains, and upper back pain,” remembered York, stating, “In the very back of my mind, I suspected a PE, but I told myself it was everything but that.”
“I was singing at First Baptist Church of Russell the song ‘Through the Fire’ by Jason Crabb, and everyone commented on my breathing, noting how I couldn’t get a full breath,” she shared, adding, “I’d waited a week after the chest pain and shortness of breath, I went into urgent care and told them how to treat me and I was wrong.”
The medical team went after what the nurse on the patient end of treatment had learned in nursing school. There are textbook risk factors such as sedentary lifestyle, being overweight, use of hormonal prescription drugs, post-surgery or trauma, and distant travel. DVTs carry a few signs like swelling, redness, warmth, and pain.
“A lot of waiting was out of fear because ignorance is bliss,” she said about the delayed trip to seek treatment and somberly recalled, “When I was told to get to the hospital, I thought, ‘I have a 5-year-old and I could’ve died.’”
Treatments for blood clots include oral anti-coagulants like Xarelto, Coumadin, and others and EKOS treatment which involves a procedure to shrink a clot where it lives.
If you suspect you may have a DVT, take some advice from Nurse York, who declared, “I always tell people from now on I will never, ever, ever rub a leg pain or Charlie horse again. If you can’t walk it out, or stretch it out, then check it out. I tried to rub it out, and it nearly killed me.”
In addition to being aware and getting treated, there’s a lot to say for preventing DVTs. Maintain a healthy weight, exercise regularly, during travel you should take breaks frequently, in air travel get up and stretch as available, compression socks, avoid hormonal pharmaceuticals.
After a period of being on anti-coagulants, there came the time where York would back off from the blood thinning medications to be able to do a clotting study, but there was some fear involved in that. After all, she’d seen cases professionally where these events had gone really badly, even fatal. “What was worse than the physical recovery was the mental recovery,” York admitted, “It’s almost like a PTSD situation. I tend to panic.”
York, who is now fully recovered in addition to nursing leads worship at House of Grace and performs with Grace Harmonies concluded, “That’s where my faith comes in! That song (Jason Crabb’s ‘Through the Fire’) is my testimony because of how He brought me through this. He chose to spare me.”
