Tag Archive | blood thinners

My Mother’s Story – Cardiovascular Disease: Right Femoral Stent Insertion Monday

Nov27

White and Blue Daisies_10% In yesterday’s post, I gave a brief summary of the stent procedure that my mother, Marie Bond, had on Monday for arterial disease. Here’s an update.

Last night, she was transferred from ICU to Telemetry. She had had to go to ICU after the surgery Monday because she takes Plavix (clopidogrel) and baby aspirin, both blood thinners (anticoagulants) used after a heart attack, which caused a hematoma (pooling of blood) in the wound area of her arm where the stent had been inserted and then routed to her right leg.

I called her this morning, and she sounds fine. She was sitting up in a chair waiting for the surgeon to come in, which he did while I was on the phone, so I heard the conversation. He said she was doing very well. As soon as Physical Therapy comes in to make sure she’s stable enough to walk on her own, she will be discharged to home. She has to return to see him next Wednesday to have the clips (staples) removed from her arm, which is still very sore but seems to be healing well.

So all seems to be well with Mom at 8:00 AM.

And she can go to Thanksgiving dinner with us tomorrow.

Thanks for your concern on her behalf!

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My Mother’s Story – Cardiovascular Disease: Right Femoral Stent Insertion Yesterday

Nov26

White and Blue Daisies_10% In yesterday’s post, I gave a brief summary of the medical challenges my mother, Marie Bond, has faced this year and described a procedure she was having yesterday for arterial disease. Here’s an update.

Yesterday, my mother had a right femoral angiogram, angioplasty, and insertion of a stent to increase the blood flow to her right leg. Access was by way of her left brachial artery, through the aorta, and down to the right femoral artery–a long way around from the left arm to the right leg.

The procedure was done fairly late in the day, but went well. Last night, she had to go back in the OR because of a hematoma at the insertion point in her arm, mid way between the elbow and shoulder on the inside. She takes Plavix (clopidogrel) and baby aspirin, both blood thinners (anticoagulants) used after a heart attack, and evidently hematoma formation (pooling of blood) is a common problem because blood pools in the wound area. The procedure to clear it up also went well, although they transferred her to the ICU instead of to a regular room. The original plan was to send her home today, but we’re still waiting to hear.

I just talked to my mother on the phone, and she sounds a big groggy from the two twilight anesthesias yesterday. Otherwise, she sounded good and said she felt fine except for her left arm, which is swollen and sore. The doctor checked her pulses and said they sounded great–in both legs. Apparently improving blood flow in one also has benefit in the other.

My mother is in a suburban Pennsylvania hospital that we’ve all been pretty impressed with, and she seems to have found a very good vascular surgeon.

So we do have things to be grateful for, even though we don’t quite know what our Thanksgiving will look like on Thursday. . . .