I hurt my knee, and after 10 months of physical therapy, I found myself having a meniscus repair surgery.
Post-surgery, I was in physical therapy again. About six weeks after surgery, I noticed more swelling, which I attributed to being at work for some very long days and not having time to walk around as much as usual.
One morning, I arrived at my physical therapy appointment and my therapist seemed worried. She asked me how long my right calf had been swollen. I told her it felt muscular to me. She opted to take some photos and send them to the orthopedic physician’s assistant.
The PA called and recommended an ultrasound, though without a lot of heat and discoloration, she didn’t think it was a DVT. Within two hours, I was at the hospital’s vascular clinic for an ultrasound.
Since they let me leave immediately, I assumed things were fine. But about an hour later, I got a call from an ortho nurse. She told me that they did find a popliteal and femoral DVT, and I needed to pick up a prescription right away for apixaban. They’d called it into my usual pharmacy. She instructed me to go to the ER if I had any shortness of breath or other PE symptoms.
Two days later, I struggled to breathe and had some dizziness, so I went to the ER. I got a CT and they found a submassive PE with evidence of right heart strain. I was admitted and spent the weekend in the hospital.
Because the timing was strange, I did see a hematologist (as well as a great pulmonologist) and found I have factor V Leiden (heterozygous). My grandma also died of a PE. I’m now taking apixaban for life, and I credit my PT and orthopedic clinic for their action!
