As some of you know, I have been overseas for the last 7 weeks touring
south east Asia including Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. I blogged
about it at
https://bradmac.id.au/blog
I got home yesterday - and just in the nick of time it seems. As
mentioned in my blog, I started noticing a pain in my left calf about
a week before the end of our trip. I thought I'd strained it by
carrying our suitcases up and done some steep staircases in Vietnam and
thought nothing more of it. But after a few days the pain was not
reducing and my wife queried whether it might be a deep vein
thrombosis (DVT).
I consulted Dr. Google - and discovered that I had a perfect example
of DVT symptoms. Panic stations.
I consulted a doctor at a hospital while in Vietnam. He conducted an
ultrasound and could not detect a thrombosis, but instead said I had
a collapsed vein. He prescribed some blood thinning drugs and sent me
on my way.
I wasn't entirely relieved, but felt a little better that it wasn't an
obvious thrombosis.
I was a bit stressed on the flights home. My mind kept playing on the
thought that I did have a thrombosis and further flying time might cause
it to break apart and cause a pulmonary embolism.
I made it home and went to the local emergency department. It's the
weekend and it was busy with sporting injuries but after a 2 hour
wait, I got to see the doctor. The examination result was that I have
a superficial blood clot in my calf rather than a deep vein clot.
Apparently superficial is not as dangerous. Due to it being the weekend they
will only call in an ultrasound specialist if it is a dire emergency. At
least I'm not in that category, but I have to go back on Monday (tomorrow) for
the ultrasound.
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2018-05-20
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