Joanna Clots

It has been a long time since the last entry! And so much to say.

It started when Joanna's right arm started swelling up again. Again, you might say? Well yes, she had a blood clot in her right subclavian vein about two years ago. It was removed by the doctors and she was on anticoagulants for six months. Warfarin is a nasty drug, lifesaving sure, but nonetheless not an enjoyable regimen.

Well, we thought it was behind us when her arm started swelling in late April. Nothing like it did before, but still noticeable. We met with some doctors and Joanna went into the University of Utah hospital for a couple days to have the clot dissolved. It was a successful procedure, but the resultant imaging showed that her subclavian vein was very damaged, and didn't show signs of desiring to widen up again.

Apparently the vein has been pinched repeatedly between the first rib and clavicle, causing damage and causing it to scar and close off. This we knew, but the first time around we thought it may be due to some sort of recent event. This time is was apparent that it is a recurring theme and an anatomical issue of some sort. Poor Joanna! Well, there is a bright side, and that's that a very good network of collaterals had already started forming and widening. This is where small vessels widen to bypass the narrowed area. The best would probably be for the original vein to completely close off and the collaterals to take over, then there would be no vein to pinch, and the liklihood of triggering further clots would be lessened.

I have attached a picture of the veins of the arm and where the pinch took place. Luckily this isn't life threatening, though it is certainly a difficult thing to go through! The changes have certainly set us back a little, one of the effects being the long break in blogginess. Everyone wish Joanna well!