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Dec. 2018 Locations & Snow Chatter

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blizzard2014

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Today I drove 60 miles round trip to work. I have been off work for a month due to Gallbladder surgery. I'm glad I wasn't on the road when that darn thing acted up. I'd take blood clots in the lungs any day over writhing in pain so bad I could not even force myself to take a shower and go for a car ride to the ER. I had to wait 4 hours for the pain to stop, then sleep it off, then get up and shower and go to the ER. I went three times, the third time I went after having two attacks in 24 hours even while eating non-fat food. If I would have been under a load on the side of the road, It would have been pure hell and a 100 percent service failure. I have never felt that kind of pain and discomfort before. But at least I'm finally back to eating pizza and cheeseburgers a month out. I lasted 3 weeks on a low fat mostly fruit and soup diet. Now the pounds are coming back. lol
 
guido4475

guido4475

Not a Member
blizzard2014 said:
Today I drove 60 miles round trip to work. I have been off work for a month due to Gallbladder surgery. I'm glad I wasn't on the road when that darn thing acted up. I'd take blood clots in the lungs any day over writhing in pain so bad I could not even force myself to take a shower and go for a car ride to the ER. I had to wait 4 hours for the pain to stop, then sleep it off, then get up and shower and go to the ER. I went three times, the third time I went after having two attacks in 24 hours even while eating non-fat food. If I would have been under a load on the side of the road, It would have been pure hell and a 100 percent service failure. I have never felt that kind of pain and discomfort before. But at least I'm finally back to eating pizza and cheeseburgers a month out. I lasted 3 weeks on a low fat mostly fruit and soup diet. Now the pounds are coming back. lol
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Glad to hear that you are recovering, and sorry to hear that it had happened to begin with. The last thing id be worrying about is "The", or, " A" load. you're, or our health should override anything out here. Im speaking to myself as well. We owe it to ourselves to put us and our health first while out here.
 
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Tennesseahawk

Tennesseahawk

Veteran Expediter
blizzard2014 said:
Today I drove 60 miles round trip to work. I have been off work for a month due to Gallbladder surgery. I'm glad I wasn't on the road when that darn thing acted up. I'd take blood clots in the lungs any day over writhing in pain so bad I could not even force myself to take a shower and go for a car ride to the ER. I had to wait 4 hours for the pain to stop, then sleep it off, then get up and shower and go to the ER. I went three times, the third time I went after having two attacks in 24 hours even while eating non-fat food. If I would have been under a load on the side of the road, It would have been pure hell and a 100 percent service failure. I have never felt that kind of pain and discomfort before. But at least I'm finally back to eating pizza and cheeseburgers a month out. I lasted 3 weeks on a low fat mostly fruit and soup diet. Now the pounds are coming back. lol
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Have you ever had a blood clot travel to your lung? I did earlier this year. Now a small section of my lung is dead. Could've been me.
 
B

blizzard2014

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Tennesseahawk said:
blizzard2014 said:
Today I drove 60 miles round trip to work. I have been off work for a month due to Gallbladder surgery. I'm glad I wasn't on the road when that darn thing acted up. I'd take blood clots in the lungs any day over writhing in pain so bad I could not even force myself to take a shower and go for a car ride to the ER. I had to wait 4 hours for the pain to stop, then sleep it off, then get up and shower and go to the ER. I went three times, the third time I went after having two attacks in 24 hours even while eating non-fat food. If I would have been under a load on the side of the road, It would have been pure hell and a 100 percent service failure. I have never felt that kind of pain and discomfort before. But at least I'm finally back to eating pizza and cheeseburgers a month out. I lasted 3 weeks on a low fat mostly fruit and soup diet. Now the pounds are coming back. lol
Click to expand...

Have you ever had a blood clot travel to your lung? I did earlier this year. Now a small section of my lung is dead. Could've been me.
Click to expand...
Yeah. That's how this all started. I had Large Saddle PE. It is where the clot straddles both pulmonary arteries and also went into both upper and lower lobes. Also had an extensive DVT to the point I could no longer walk. I still have some lose of use and chronic pain in the leg. I toughed it out for 5 months because I didn't have health insurance and never even knew what a blood clot was. I don't have any dead areas in my lung. But because the big arteries were blocked, my heart had to work harder to force blood into the right side of my lungs. Usually the pulmonary arteries are under low pressure because they only send blood to the right lung I believe. When the clots form and cause resistance, the right side of the heart has to work harder. It's a smaller ventricle than the left that pumps blood to the entire body. My heart is permanently enlarged because of it. But that's what saved me. Some people the heart cannot accommodate the extra force needed to continue to work, then the right side enlargement affects the left side and also becomes enlarged and then heart failure can happen, or cardiogenic shock. Once that happens, it can be instant death. The smaller blood clots don't always cause life-threatening complications. but they do cause extreme pain and can kill parts of the lung. That is because they tend to go deeper into the lung and completely block the areas they land into. With larger clots, some blood can still get through to oxygenate the lung tissues so you don't have lung death and pain, you just get heart damage that can lead to heart failure. The clot in my leg was from ankle to groin. But I got lucky because I had a decent recovery. I just can't use my leg to climb stairs or into a van or car. I have to use my right leg to climb. But finally after 5 years I can now slowly get down on my knees again a few times a day, and I can get back up without help. That took a long, long time. I still use my arms to lower myself to go potty and to get into low cars and get off chairs. Are you on blood thinners for life? Make sure they run genetic testing for clotting disorders. Normal people do not clot, not even if they drive for 2 days straight with no rest breaks. I'm glad you're ok. A lot of people have sudden death as the first symptom. It's good to be above ground.
 
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blizzard2014

Veteran Expediter
Driver
I have two clotting disorders. Factor 2 Leiden and Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome/Hughes Syndrome. They put me on blood thinners for life just based off the size of the clots in my lungs. But they also did the genetic testing which is also important because the Factor 2 is an easy disorder to treat, but the APS is an autoimmune disorder and more unpredictable. It can strike at any time causing multiple clots to multiple organ systems at the same time. So, my INR is kept between a 3.0 and 4.0 at all times, where as Factor 2 and other clotting disorders the INR is kept between a 2.0 and a 3.0. The scariest part of having the GB removed was being reversed off of blood thinners. They had to give me seven plasma transfusions to get my INR down to 1.6, perform the surgery quickly, then get my INR back into therapeutic range ASAP while bridging me with Heparin injections.
 
guido4475

guido4475

Not a Member
Im glad that you are are recovering successfully. Hearing and reading about blood clots like this makes me shake my head in disbelief as I hear and read of drivers running non stop kinda loads across the country, or close to it, and think they are doing a great thing. Sure, the money may be great, but the long term affects will put a driver in regret. That load, or money isn't worth it. After the load is delivered you are forgotton. I used to be one of those kinda drivers, running cross country non stop. Pure stupidity on my part. Ive slowed down so much now, preferring the smaller loads. Luckily, my doctor is catching things and trying to prevent any catostrophic failure.
 
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