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Author
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Topic: I'm still alive too..but had a close call...
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Tony Bandiera Jr
Film God
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Posts: 3067
From: Moreland Idaho
Registered: Apr 2004
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posted 04-04-2008 01:17 AM
Hi everyone, hope all of you are doing well... I haven't been around for a while for a few reasons...but last August I almost checked out for good.
I had finally gotten another motocross bike, and went for my first ride in 14(!) years on August 11th. I did pretty good, but had problems with my left boot being tighter than my right. For several days after, my left calf hurt, which I chalked up to being out of shape and not stretching properly before my ride.
On the 18th of August I was working in my garage and suddenly felt a weird sensation in my chest, first on the left and then the right, for a few seconds on each side. I thought it was a heart issue, but I had no other symptoms and actually felt quite o.k. afterwards.
But on the 22nd, I was at work when my left calf suddenly felt like someone had stuck a knife in it...so I went home, and almost passed out going up the stairs to my apt. As I was getting my dinner, my cat was acting weird and staying right next to my left leg. I ate dinner and started feeling worse, so I asked my neighbor to take me to the hospital.
The ER docs checked me out, and within a half hour of my arrival, sent me to CAT scan and Ultrasound. They found a major blood clot in my left calf (DVT) and clots in BOTH lungs (Double PE). After the tests, the doctor had me admitted for a few days, I was on Heparin and Lovenox, and am currently taking blood thinners.
The doc said had I not come in when I did I would have been dead within the hour.
Well, other than a few follow-up trips to ER (once I couldn't breathe again, turned out to simply be a panic attack) I am doing o.k., but still not out of danger.
And I am still riding my mx bike (See the pic below, Brad, can we please set this as my new profile pic?))which actually helps make me feel better, even though the docs still freak out about it.
![-](http://www.film-tech.com/uploads/uploads0503/JustOfftheTrackthumb.jpg)
I am still doing screening rooms and sound systems, I now have a CP-65-70 for my home room again, and am getting good at writing AMX system code.
I did miss all of you and am glad to be back.. looking forward to learning more here too!!
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Tony Bandiera Jr
Film God
![](/ubbmembers/2365e.jpg)
Posts: 3067
From: Moreland Idaho
Registered: Apr 2004
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posted 04-05-2008 12:15 AM
Thank you Jeff for your kind words, glad to hear your wife is going to be o.k. too.
This was a surprise to me too, had no clue how dangerous my sore leg was.
I guess I am lucky so far, since I don't need any filters and my blood thinner dose is relatively low. (My goal INR range is 2-3).
I have a friend whose range is 4-5 and he has the filter in his vein too.
As of now they have no idea what caused the clot in my leg, which as bad as it was had evidently been there for quite a while, and my mx boot aggravated it. The PE's were bad enough that they can't say if they were from my leg for sure, or if they also had been forming for a while too. (I think they were as I had been short of breath for some time before this, again I had just thought I was out of shape.)
I have no family history of clot issues or diabetes, but my dad passed of heart issues back in 1999, he was only 53.
I always have been different, so no surprise my health issue would be unique for our family.
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Paul Linfesty
Phenomenal Film Handler
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Posts: 1383
From: Bakersfield, CA, USA
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-06-2008 12:49 AM
I had the same problem back in 2000, same leg. I had some problems a couple of months before that, but thought I had strained a muscle. That eventually went away, but then it came back on Christmas Day (redddish and swowlen. I finally went in to emergency, but they had to send me to another hospital that had an ultrasound machine. I was admitted for 9 days, put on a heparin drip and x-rays showed small bits of clot had broken loose and were in my lungs. The problem was that for a day my blood was way over thin from the drip (lack of care in the hospital. Despite feeling woozy all day, I kept calling for a nurse, but it took 6 hours for one to finally come in. The whole experience taught me that hospitals can be dangerous, and you need to be vigilant while there.
BTW, I was on Wayfarin (the generic of Comidin) for 6 months, with a warning that if I got it again, I would probably be on it for life (once every few months, I might get something resembling it, but it passes. It feels like a charlie horse, but lingers a lot longer). Several members of my family are on blood thinner for life. THere is a genetic factor where an enzyme in the blood is missing. Fortunately, the tests they ran showed that I dont have that genetic defect.
There was a silver lining, however. I was also diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure, and have worked hard to live a better and healthier lifestyle, with a lot of walking and controlling what I eat. I definitely feel better at 51 tghen I did in my 40's.
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