Diagnosis: Kaiser vs Google

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I've been on 'medical leave' so far as this blog is concerned. I hope you missed me. You see, I only like to write this when I am 'under the influence,' but until today I thought it unwise to screw around with my blood chemistry. Alcohol is a 'blood thinner' and I needed to abstain until I was sure that the Kaiser folks had come up with reliable daily dose of Warfarin (generic Coumadin). Looks like they have (1.5 tabs per day), so I'll risk it.

The problem is a 'deep vein thrombosis.' Seems that all this sitting on my butt playing C-III has resulted in a blood clot in my right leg. The leg swelled up over a period of two months or so and the problem became acute about three or four weeks ago. My KP 'primary care physician' was apparently mystified by the symptoms: swollen leg, muscle tiredness, pain. I told him I thought it was a blood flow problem. Acting on this clue he ordered a routine ultrasound of my right leg to check 'arterial blood pressure, nothing urgent.'

By the time I arrived at Kaiser for my appointment the problem had become acute. Also I had done some Googling and narrowed the problem down to two possibilities: DVT or a lymph system malfunction. It took me less than 30 minutes to arrive at the probable diagnoses. A lympth system swelling problem is usually caused by irradation during cancer treatment. This left DVT as the most probable problem.