Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Update: Those Mysterious Emboli

I think the title of this post is more interesting than the post itself. Anyways, I know I posted during my little drama of my detour I had to take prior to ECT in order to treat bloodclots in my lungs. Nobody could give me a clear answer on what caused the bloodclots, oral contraceptives were the prime suspect but even with them I was not part of a particularly high-risk group. Genetic testing was ordered.

I recently got the results, and it turned out I have something called a Factor 5 Leiden genetic mutation that causes my blood to hypercoagulate. It's something about communication via amino acids (?) and somehow my body has faulty communication with itself in regards to regulating the coagulation of my blood. It is believed that somewhere between 3 to 8 percent of people of European descent have the disorder, it is lower in other races. Being caucasian, I feel like this is almost like my race's version of sickle cell anemia or something.

A lot of people with the genetic mutation don't suffer ill effects from it, but 10% of us develop abnormal bloodclots, and the chances of a bloodclot dislodging and relocating to a more dangerous area is higher in us, too. Because I have already had bloodclots (pulmonary emboli) from this disorder when I wasn't otherwise a particularly at-risk person, I will have to continue the coumidin until further notice. So long, new tattoo ideas and cool piercings I want. At least for now.

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