I had Lap band 6/13/13, 5 days later admitted to ICU with blood clots in my legs and lungs. bunch of treatment, blood thinners, etc, and I was just trucking along, tracking calories, protein n fluid intake.. Doing the treadmill 4 x week, Then my leg/foot swelling got so bad this past week I thought I better get checked.. Well still have all the clots! Worse actually in my legs and lungs, my blood thinners did not work, my body didn't dissolve them, was emergently shipped by ambulance to a city hospital to care for my situation.. I feel like how the hell am I supposed to focus on my band eating etc when I'm still full of clots!! This has been awful. I mean I lost weight my surgeon is very pleased with that aspect but all the complications is it worth it?? Ugh. I could've died twice now. I'm a nurse as well and know too much I think. I'm still sticking to portions n not drinking w meals, all the rules, haven't hopped on the scale cuz I've been kinda busy stayin alive. Lol, just wishing I could get past all this so I can hardcore get focused back on just the band!! I have to give myself injections now for prob 6 more months this journey of blood clot hell just seems never ending..l don't want to deal with it all anymore, now birth control is out of the question forever, so i have to explore all those other avenues which is complicated by the blood thinner use.. it's just such a domino effect all these complications! I do love shopping in my closet for the clothes that are now fitting but want the other stuff to go away!!

Oh gosh! I'm so sorry to hear about all of the complications! I can somewhat related. I developed a blood clot after knee surgery a few years ago. But definitely not to the extent you are experiencing. I'm wishing you an uncomplicated and speedy recovery. Stay strong. You got this! :-)

Thank you. I nearly died and I just am not recovering, I'm hoping for this to get resolved once n for all!

Don't give up. You will get better. Did they put the filters in your lungs to prevent the clots from further travel? Or was that even an option?

Birth control suggestion

I had blood clot post op (shunt placement) and I had to get the copper IUD (no hormones) for birth control its suppose to last 10 years as apposed to the 5 year hormone ones!

Best of luck with everything!

I am so sorry you're going through this. If f you read Ms.73's posts and blogs you will see she went through the same thing and it took her awhile to recover.

I worry about blood clots as well because I had clots in my legs and lung when I was pregnant with my last child. I was hooked up to heparin for a long time and I was very high risk because if all my medical problems. I do have a greenfield filter implanted in me since 1990 and I'm doing well thank God.

I'm sending hugs and prayers your way that you have a speedy recovery.

My boss has a DVT, it is not easy. I am sorry you had this complication when you got a band to get healthier. I had an elective procedure last year and got sepsis (a horrific blood infection for those that don't know. It has a high rate of death). It took me 6 months to recover.

I really don't have any advice, just to say I sort of know what you are going through questioning and wondering...

My heart breaks for you. Just two months ago, I spent 8 days in the ICU with life threatening blood clots so I understand what you're going through. I actually blogged about it and the enzyme they used to dissolve the clots, called TPA. It was brutal but I am thankful. It saved my life and my legs. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/blog/6349/entry-26062-a-warning-about-blood-clots-grahic-pic-beware/

The problem with conventional blood clot treatment is the clots aren't dissolved, they're only stabilized, usually with IV Heparin. So, when you get home, you still have the clots and have to wait for your body to naturally dissolve them. Some people live with them for months and some actually never dissolve. Most people have some level of pain and discomfort ongoing because of it.

Before this latest round of clots, what was your INR at usually? Were you on Coumadin and/or Lovenox? Was your INR target between 2-3? I am on Coumadin for at least 4 more months and have to have my INR tested weekly. My target is 2-3 but I find it really bounces around. Last week, it was too high. The week before too low. It's frustrating.

Here's a good website about blood clots and forums for them too: http://www.clotconnect.org/

I will definitely be keeping you in my prayers.

God bless you!

Thank you all for the support. I chose the blood thinner xarelto which required no bloodwork, first mistake, but the docs were pushing for it. Now l will be on the lovenox injections for prob 6 more months. Thrombectomy n IVC filter are the next step. I do not want the clots cutout and the clot busters mis73 you had the docs were against that the first go round., the injections now are my treatment now and then if my body continues to refuse to dissolve the clots then we will explore something else I suppose! My birth control issue is complicated by the blood thinners because the only thing I can get is the copper iud which was mentioned, but uteran perforation n bleeding is a complication with the blood thinner... Ugh see the domino affect I'm talking about. Im hanging in there. Hoping to resolve it all n get back on track. The lap band was the least of my issues honestly!

Thank you all for the support. I chose the blood thinner xarelto which required no bloodwork, first mistake, but the docs were pushing for it. Now l will be on the lovenox injections for prob 6 more months. Thrombectomy n IVC filter are the next step. I do not want the clots cutout and the clot busters mis73 you had the docs were against that the first go round., the injections now are my treatment now and then if my body continues to refuse to dissolve the clots then we will explore something else I suppose! My birth control issue is complicated by the blood thinners because the only thing I can get is the copper iud which was mentioned, but uteran perforation n bleeding is a complication with the blood thinner... Ugh see the domino affect I'm talking about. Im hanging in there. Hoping to resolve it all n get back on track. The lap band was the least of my issues honestly!

I'm not surprised they were against the TPA. It is a very risky, almost extreme measure to take against blood clots. Unfortunately, they didn't have a choice with me because of the severity of the bilateral clots. I actually had some clot get passed the IVC filter and they were very worried about me throwing a massive PE. Plus, if they didn't do the TPA, I was at very real risk of losing my legs. I was retaining almost 40 pounds of fluid- all in my legs. It was insane and excruciatingly painful.

The birth control issue is a biggy. I was on the pill when I got my clot. Needless to say, all hormonal forms of birth control are now out of the question. Ugh!

The good news is, IVC filters are a piece of cake. They don't even have to put you under to do it, they just use sedation and local numbing.

I was against TPA for obvious reasons along with the Thrombectomy. We are going to try this first then of course as a life saving measure il explore the other options. I'm sorry you've had so many complications but I'm also Glad to know I'm not alone and have this forum for support! Thanks to all.