Know that I’m praying for you.

There’s a scare in a note above about PE, but the facts are fortunately much more encouraging.

After you make it two or three days and are on blood thinners, you usually do just fine and the risks immediately go lower. Without more details I’m guessing, but based on what I found in the literature the odds are better than 90% you’ve live until something else catches up with you.

A few things to remember.

They’ll probably keep you on blood thinners for six months to prevent another clot, and you’ll have to monitor that closely with blood tests. Coumadin or whatever you take has a very thin margin between the dose that protects you and the dose that raises your risk of other problems, so they have to check often.

The one thing some doctors should recommend but sometimes don’t is to wear medical grade “compression socks.” To my amazement, the medical studies on this show a significant decrease in future PE from the simple, non toxic intervention. “Support hose” are similar, but the medical ones go up to the knee and are made more carefully. They actually are quite comfortable and feel good, although you have to learn to put them on.

Down the line, you’ll have to make some decisions about blood thinners and/or aspirin for further prevention. Avoiding airplanes for a while is probably a good idea, as is walking around and stretching when you do go back to flying. There’ll be especially careful in any future surgery you have, sometimes installing a removable shunt during certain procedures. Do tell your dentist when you’re on blood thinners. It’s probably not dangerous, but you will bleed more.

The key takeaway I want to leave you with is that a clot with an obvious cause (your flight) has a much better prognosis than one that arises without evident cause. If the clot forms after flying, beneath the cast of a broken leg, etc. that means recurrence risk is much lower.

Best of luck, and give me a call if you want some reassurance from a friend who’s done very well despite.

Dave Burstein

Please – do what Halley and others are saying here: take it easy, for at least a couple of weeks. You’re way too valuable to us all, Doc.

Never mind Ray K popping pills to stretch out his time ’till the singularity cometh – I just want to see you hang around long enough for everyone to have read, understood, digested, believed in, and acted upon worldofends.com. That’s a singularity I can get behind.

PS: Maybe a photowalk? I got the Canon 5D last year, as you recommended to me at the last Bloggercon. Excellent advice, thanks!

I second the points made by Harl regarding the link between PE’s and airline flights – Henry’s Law in relation to Decompression Sickness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry%27s_Law; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompression_sickness.

Might be worth reconsidering any future travel plans that require an airplane.

Get well!