Tim Samoff // Weblog (old)

January 17, 2006

To clot or not to clot...

During the week and a half since my surgery, things have been going pretty good. According to the doctor (I spoke with him on the phone last night), all of the symptoms that I am experiencing are to be expected… Except for one…

Beginning on the day after the surgery, I noticed a lot of pain in my left forearm. So much so that it was hard to even touch it. The day after that, I noticed that there was a small bump in one of the veins on my wrist (close to where the IV was placed). Anyway, in the days that followed, this small bump has grown to about five inches of vein. There is still one area that feels “bumpier” than the rest, but for the most part, it is a hard vein.

Here’s a picture:

Anyway, there can be a couple of explanations for this. One is that my vein was irritated by all of the medicine that was pumped into it during surgery (pain killers, antibiotics, etc.). This is called Phlebitis. The other reason might be Thrombophlebitis, or the fact that “one or more blood clots in [my] vein [have caused] inflammation.” Whatever the case, I’m hoping it’s superficial and not deep vein (especially with my clotting disorder). (My doctor thinks it’s superficial Thrombophlebitis.)

I am going to see my doctor on Thursday, so hopefully I’ll have a better answer then. Until then, I’ve been told (by my doctor and by Rob — who gave me an off-the-cuff diagnosis at the 75th Street Brewery the other night) to put heat on it — that’s supposed to help the irritation go down as well as break-down any sort of clotting.

And, so, another chapter in the “What’s wrong with Tim now?” saga continues…

Posted at 08:21 am

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