Day Thirteen: First day home from hospital after PE

First day home after being hospitalized for Pulmonary Embolism.

From this point forward this blog will consider two distinct areas: (1) the hernia surgery recovery and (2) the pulmonary embolism recovery. With emphasis on the latter, since I consider it the most important of the two issues I have to recover from.

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Pulmonary Embolism Recovery
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Continue with my Lovenox injections at 9AM and 9PM, while adding Coumidin at 4PM each day.

More blood in the sputum; thick and deep, crimson red. However, no pain in the chest or lung area during the day, as I move about the house.

When I got to bed I try to sleep on my left side, since I'm tired of sleeping on my back. No problem with the hernias. I put a pillow between my legs and I'm able to keep my legs far enough apart where there's no pain.

I fall asleep right away, but wake up half an hour later with a LOT of pain on my left rib area. The SAME pain that put me in the hospital!!! Uh, oh! My wife wants to go the ER, immediately. However, I remind her that I had the same pain while in the hospital and the doctor said that it was expected, since my left lung(which took the brunt of the damage from the clots) was in the process of healing.

I turn to my right side and, even though my left side still hurts, I am able to sleep through the night without pain.

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Hernia Recovery
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I'm moving around much better, with the occasional burning of the right incision. I can move in and out of bed without any help. However, I cannot sleep on my sides. It's very painful in the area of the right incision.

An important step forward is that I can now walk up and down the stairs. Our home has three levels, so it's important that I walk the stairs, otherwise I am confined to an area of house. I can get around the entire house without much problem and can walk outside in and around my property.

I'm also extremely exhausted and go to bed at 9PM.