My surgeon said I will have to give myself injections twice a day of blood thinners for two weeks post-surgery.

The first surgeon I saw (same practice) said I didn't have to, but he retired half-way through my process and the new guy said I did.

When I had my lab work, my blood... viscosity... was thin. And my general health is basically perfect. I've had major surgeries before and never had to give shots, so it's weird.

I am actually more nervous about that than the surgery. I've never given myself shots before, especially in my torso. The idea makes me squeamish. Doesn't it get very bruised? Do you switch sides each time?

To hammer home my fear, my friend's gf just died from blood thinners. She had a pulmonary embolism and they gave her blood thinners and she hemorrhaged and bled out. I'm sure she had other things going on, of course, but now I am scared of blood thinners. Doesn't your body need to clot to heal itself?

Edited October 11, 20187 yr by mousecat88

I have to inject myself with blood thinners once a day for a month. I'm only mad about it because the injections have to be in my stomach, which is very hard for me to do. (That's where my organs live! I don't want to!)

It does get very bruised. But whatever, the bruises heal eventually.

And everything else heals, too, with or without the blood thinner. My incisions are itching so much that I know they're mostly healed.

The risk of deep vein thrombosis leading to pulmonary embolism is scary enough to keep me giving myself the shots and moving around every hour when I'm awake. I actually might be taking it further than necessary, because I set an alarm 5 hours after I go to bed, and I get up and walk around then, too. (It isn't helping me be less tired, but I'm one of those people who need 9+ hours of sleep a night, and I don't want to risk developing a clot because I sleep longer than the average person.)

4 minutes ago, CrankyMagpie said:

I have to inject myself with blood thinners once a day for a month. I'm only mad about it because the injections have to be in my stomach, which is very hard for me to do. (That's where my organs live! I don't want to!)

It does get very bruised. But whatever, the bruises heal eventually.

And everything else heals, too, with or without the blood thinner. My incisions are itching so much that I know they're mostly healed.

The risk of deep vein thrombosis leading to pulmonary embolism is scary enough to keep me giving myself the shots and moving around every hour when I'm awake. I actually might be taking it further than necessary, because I set an alarm 5 hours after I go to bed, and I get up and walk around then, too. (It isn't helping me be less tired, but I'm one of those people who need 9+ hours of sleep a night, and I don't want to risk developing a clot because I sleep longer than the average person.)

Yeah, I think if it was in my thigh or something it would freak me out less. I know it's subcutaneous and I'm not like... piercing my muscle, lol, but my poor sensitive belly fat!

Maybe it's different because it's surgery on an organ, but when I had my massive breast reduction (8 lbs of skin and fat removed) and some other very lengthy stabby procedures, they all said the risk for a PE decreases dramatically after the first 72 hours or so (and I'll be in the hospital nearly 72 hours with the gastric).

Is the needle skinny and tiny or gigantic? The older I've gotten, the harder it is for me to deal with needles. I used to be morbid and love watching my blood being drawn, but now it makes me want to black out.

Very short, very thin, I didn't hardly feel it until I hit a spot near where I had injected before, and I did mine for 3 weeks not just 2. And I felt like I was a partner in my recovery, like I was helping make me better. And I am pretty stoic but I don't watch anymore myself. It does get old after a while, you know. And t9morrow I have another IV c9ming, I have to undergo another EGD to find out why my pouch won't accept puree And above. But I will do fine again, I'm a pretty tough old? after all! Look for an update tomorrow evening, okay?

My doctor allowed me to take the shots in my arm instead of my stomach. After having abdominal surgery I couldn’t mentally handle taking daily injections in the same region.

I have a phobia about needles so my husband gave me the shots. I found the shots to be uncomfortable and my arm was sore afterwards. I don’t think I had any bruising.

I focused on how important the shots were to avoid pulmonary embolisms to get me through it.


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