Blood clot in left lung following Covid and 50 days in ICU and on ventilator. What are treatment options and any similar experiences?

[Beanyynwa]

My sister (age 56) contracted covid at the end of Feb 2021 and spent 50 days on ventilator in ICU. Main isssue was impact on her lungs but no issue with other organs. With antibiotics, she responded well to varoius bacterial infections Towards end of this time she had a tracky and when well enough was transferred to a ward. Afer 24 hours on ward she had a severe bleed from her mouth and was rushed back to ICU and on ventilator again for 24 hours. CT scan showed no issue with tracky. Delays in her having endoscopy as not deemed to be an emergency or priority!!!. Sister was treated for suspected stomach ulcer and once stable and well enough moved to AVU ward on 22nd Feb. I pushed with consultant for endoscopy which showed healed ulcer and further antibiotics prescribed to deal with any bacterial infection in stomach. Sister's condition was improving and physio was going well. However in early hours of yesterday morning she had two further episodes of bleeding through mouth. ENT specialist looked at tracky site through camera and no concerns found re tracky wound. She went for CT scan again with plan for another endoscopy after the scan. One of my other sisters accompanied her and grew concerned as my sister appeeared to deteriorate. Whilst waiting for CT scan, health assistant accompanying did not monitor her oxygen level which dropped when oxygen in small cannister ran out. Sister should have been transferred whilst waiting to larger cannister of oxygen. Once in CT scan room, sister began coughing and this led to severe bleed. Ressucitation team called due to concerns re possible cardiac arrest. Luckily this did not happen and sister was stabilised and bleed stopped before she was returned to ward. Few hours later another CT scan performed to look more closely at lungs and blod clot found in left lung. Sister transferred to another hospital which has special radiology department ? to treat blood clots in lungs. Her heart rate is elevated but other stats are normal including oxygen saturation at 94. Complexity is that blood thinners normal used to treat blood clot could make situation worse so consultant explained that they hope her body will resolve situation naturally but this may take time and they will monitor sister closely. Sister is understandably devasted, physically and mentally exhausted and frightened that she will die. We are also distressed and worried but remaining positive for and with her. Any experiences, views, advice would be greatly appreciated.

[LeopardGecko]

Sorry to hear that your sister isn't doing too well.

I have no direct experience of blood clots on the lung but while in ICU, my husband had a blood clot in his abdomen and was passing a lot of blood. The same issue with blood thinners was the case with him and so they just had to leave him to heal himself but kept a close eye on him. Luckily it seemed to resolve itself within a week (possibly a few days but I can't quite remember).

Having her in a specialist hospital sounds like a positive step to treating her and looking after her the best that they can.

Thinking of you all xx

[Beanyynwa in reply to LeopardGecko]

Hi Z is doing well and here is a photo of her wearing her friendship bracelet. Thank you 🙏🏼🙂🤗😘❤

Wearing my friendship bracelet. Thanks Sarah xxx

[LeopardGecko in reply to Beanyynwa]

Thank you for sharing 🙂

[Sepsur in reply to Beanyynwa]

That’s great news - unfortunately the photo does exist for me.

[Sepsur]

I completely empathise with your sister, I didn’t have blood clots per se but I had repeated infection upon infection. Just when it looked like It was finally the end of all the drama, another awful episode would hit us all. Although I took an EBV,VRE & CMV infection with me down onto the wards ( in fact I remained in isolation for the 120 days I was in hospital because of these) Around day 80 & 10 days before I left ICU - I started vomiting profusely, I then would lose the ability to speak, quickly followed by movement, even down to being unable to blink - although I could hear the nurse asking if I could hear & whether I could respond to her. I would then go into a fit of some sort. This happened right when it looked like I was going to be ok & prolonged my time in ICU. it ended up being allergic reaction to an antiviral.

When I moved to wards, with a suspected glandular fever - I really began to fear I would never leave, that my body wouldn’t be able to survive another battle.

I’m still here, 5yrs later and have spent the last 5yrs, battling leukaemia as a side issue, regaining the best quality of life as is possible.

[Beanyynwa in reply to Sepsur]

Hi thank you again for sharing and support. Told this morning that sister not only had blood clot on left lung but yeast infection on right which has cause lesion and aneurysm which is causing the bleeds. Her lungs show typical damage due to COVID.Specialist radiologist explained that it was rare to see all these issues going on at once and that he had not attempted a procedure in these circumstances before.

Stopping the bled was priority as further bleeding could cause cardiac arrest and be fatal. They therefore wanted to undertake procedure called embolisation to stop bleed from vessel. This entailed sister being awake and they would go in through her groin and heart to site in lung of bleed to seal it off. Risks explained which were very scary. Procedure took hour and half and went well despite the aneurysm rupturing and causing huge bleed. They managed to seal the vessel with out damaging other main vessels so fingers crossed no more bleeds. They will let this settle and then start blood thinners for the blood clot in left lung and then treat the fungal infection. Sister is stable and being closely monitored.

This has been such a rollercoaster experience and there are challenges ahead but please no more risky procedures. We all need a good night's sleep. Grateful for all the support. 🙏🏼🌈

[Ren2985]

praying that your sister will pull through!

[Beanyynwa in reply to Ren2985]

Thank you. 🙏🏼❤🌈