Long ride almost killed me!

[Hippo]

We recently returned from Canada. My wife was in a hurry to get home so we drove straight through with the trailer 492 miles. We only stopped for gas and a fast lunch. I now have a blood clot in my left leg about 24 inches long. My doctor asked if I had been on a long flight or car ride. The wife now sees why it is so important to stop, spend some time walking around. I am under Doctors care and should get better soon. I suggest you take your foot off the gas pedal, stop and walk around, it might save your health.
Chuck

[Boondocker]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, hopefully it will work out quickly and you can get back out on the road soon!

[balrgn]

Hope all goes well with your recovery. We know a gent that has a similar problem, too much cruise control use, he is doing well with his recovery..

[dmreilly10000]

Originally Posted by Hippo

We recently returned from Canada. My wife was in a hurry to get home so we drove straight through with the trailer 492 miles. We only stopped for gas and a fast lunch. I now have a blood clot in my left leg about 24 inches long. My doctor asked if I had been on a long flight or car ride. The wife now sees why it is so important to stop, spend some time walking around. I am under Doctors care and should get better soon. I suggest you take your foot off the gas pedal, stop and walk around, it might save your health.
Chuck

Sorry to hear about your condition. It's called deep vein thrombosis. The real danger is that pieces of the clot in the leg breaks off and migrate to the lungs. This can be fatal. My 85 year old mother is in the hospital as we speak for this same condition.

They probably put you on Warfin (cumodin (sp?)) which is a blood thinner. The levels of this stuff have to be monitored very carefully.

Hope you recover with no problems.

[DFK]

I had a similar experience about 5 years ago. This is not a small matter and as others have mentioned it can result in a pulmonary thrombosis and death.

I had a severe clot that ran from the ankle to the groin and I was on Warfarin for a year until the clot completely dissolved. Base on what I read at the time and what I was told by my Doctor, Warfarin does not dissolve the clot, the body takes care of that on its own. Warfarin is an anti-clotting agent and is taken to prevent more clots from forming.

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) can be caused by long periods of sitting such as on a long airline flight or driving long distances. The sitting contributes to poor circulation in the legs which can lead to clotting. I found a reference once that DVT is also described as Economy Class syndrome and have seen references that suggest that the airlines are taking notice of the problem and providing information to passengers about maintaining good leg circulation on long distance flights. I think that some folks are more prone than others to develop DVT otherwise I think the public in general would be better informed about the problem.

My experience resulted in damage to the valves of a large vein in my left leg which affects the return part of the leg circulation leaving the leg somewhat premanently swollen. There is no pain to speak of but some occasional discomfort from having a permanently swollen limb. I wear compression socks to keep the swelling down and improve circulation.

The good news is that the swelling did not significantly limit my physical activities and I still hike and bike. However, it is unlikely that I will ever be a world class athlete, but of course the same could be said before I had the DVT.

Best wishes for a speedy complication free recovery.

DFK

[LJH]

Stop every 2-3 hours and walk around, it is physicaly and mentaly refreshing.

[Ike T]

Originally Posted by LJH

Stop every 2-3 hours and walk around, it is physicaly and mentaly refreshing.

You mean you can drive longer than that without having to fill up the gas tank?

We travel with 3 dogs, with or without the Argosy. We stop about every 90 minutes for a dog walk and a fuel fill-up. Amazingly, we seem to arrive just as fast as if we didn't stop. And more prepared to enjoy the destination.

Tim

[LJH]

Yeah Ike, the old Burb, Planet Killer, has a 44 gal. feul tank. One nice thing about a tank that large is that it gives one the illusion of good gas mileage. But then reality slaps me up side the head with a $130 fill up. LJH 6196

[bambo]

Dear Hippo,
I am so thankful you sought help when you had the pain! I lost a sweet young missionary friend last year who after two long flights to Africa thought she just had the flu and died of a clot that traveled to her lungs. Take care of yourself!! And thanks for sharing to remind us all to stop now and then.

P.S. Brian and just are having a great week in your old Tradewind! We spent the weekend at Beverly Beach and made many new Airstream friends. Hope you are enjoying your new trailer and say hello to Dee. Frankie of Brian and Frankie