Blood Clots and Broomsticks

published on May 23rd, 2008 // 7 Comments

This is a warning to all. All being the you, the very person who is sitting at a computer right now. Get up out of your chair, have a walk around, then come back and read the rest of my story.

Small Hospital

The reason for my recent absence was down to being ill. A couple of weeks ago I was bringing a lot of work home and as my wife and kids had gone away for the week it wasn’t unusual for me to work through the night. This particular week I had worked about 3 day and nights in a row and the week before I had done 2 day and nights.

I draws what I likes and I likes what I drew
No remuneration do I ask of you
But me cap would be glad of a copper or two

I noticed my my calf had become tight and tender but put it down to a knock at my Tuesday night soccer. The following morning I woke up with an incredible pain in my chest like I had broke a rib. It hurt to breathe.

I spent the morning in work and even went out for lunch but upon my return to work I was having a lot of difficulty breathing so I paid my GP a visit who sent me to the A&E department of the nearest hospital. After a very painful few hours I was diagnosed with having blood clots in both lungs, the medical term being pulmonary embolisms.

I spent a week in hospital and a week recovering before going back to work and I am on blood thinners for the next 6 months. The blood thinning drug Warfarin is funnily enough used in rat poison.

Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

So what caused this?

Sitting still for even one hour can cause a decrease in blood velocity, which could lead to a pooling of blood in the lower legs and an increased risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis. This is more common than you think for middle-aged computer workers esp.

How do you prevent it?

• Get up and walk around every half hour or so
• Stretch your calves regularly
• Use short meeting as excuses for a walk and talk session where your legs benefit
• Laying off the coffee couldn’t harm ye either!