As culled from Charles Awuzie’s Post…
Mr. Ibu died of blood clots in his leg. This is the disease that almost killed me. I still have a clot in my left leg. 200,000 Nigerians die of blood clot annually.
Please, know the symptoms. I almost d i e d i f n o t f o r m e d i c a l intervention.This was three years ago; I lived with undiagnosed DVT for seve ral m on t h s . T h e n it dislodged and travelled to my lungs, causing Pulmonary Embolism…I almost died; breathing was like stabbing myself with every draw of air…
Already, walking was almost impossible. At one point, I couldn’t get out of bed because of the pain. Doctors couldn’t find what was wrong. Blood tests and X-ray couldn’t find anything.
This is where many Africans become superstitious and conclude that they are being ‘pursued by village people’. I was undiagnosed until the day I almost stopped breathing. I remember walking into my GP’s room that morning.
Immediately he saw me, he ordered a D-Dimer blood test. This is a test that checks for blood clotting problems by measuring the amount of the Ddimer level in your body. My result came out positive and he ordered an ambulance to take me straight to hospital.
According to him, I could drop dead any moment from then if I wasn’t admitted in hospital. I told him I needed to see my family and kiss them goodbye before being taken to hospital.
I drove myself back to the house, packed my laptop and few clothes, said my goodbyes to the family and drove myself to the hospital. It was during COVID, so hospitals were filled with COVID patients and it took longer to get me admitted. Once fully admitted, they injected me with CLEXANE.
My oxygen level was dropping. I was taken in for a CT scan and boom, it was confirmed that I had clots in my lungs.
I was diagnosed of Bilateral Massive Pulmonary Embolism. The size of the blood that clotted in my lungs is what was described as massive. It was then that my physician told me I would have died in two days if I didn’t make it to hospital.
At that point, everything lost value. I knew I could die any moment. I called a few friends and prepared them for my potential exit. I contacted business p a rt n e r s a n d s h a re d e v e r y necessary information they need for continuity.
I blocked my mind from thinking about my son as the thought of him in this world without me was killing me faster than the massive clot in my lungs. But I had faith in medical science. I trusted the process.
I surrounded myself with friends in the medical field – from Dr. Idee in the UK, who first mentioned I should be checked for DVT/PE, Sister Joy in the US, Dr. Adetola also in the US, and others. On ground, I had the best specialists monitoring me closely.
After ten days of fighting for my life in t h e h o s p ita l , m y ph y s i c i a n discharged me and said I cheated death. According to him, blood clots kill faster yet few people are aware of it. I knew at that point that the universe wanted me to use my story to raise awareness about this killer but unpopular medical condition.
If you sit long hours in flights or at work, you are at a risk of developing a blood clot.
The following factors increase your risk of developing a blood clot:
- Obesity
- Pregnancy
- Immobility (including prolonged inactivity, long trips by plane or car)
- Smoking
- Oral contraceptives
- Certain cancers
- Trauma
- Certain surgeries
- Age (increased risk for people over age 60)
- A family history of blood clots
- Chronic inflammatory diseases
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Prior central line placement
And finally, if you’re sick and multiple blood tests do not show what’s wrong with you, do not conclude that the condition is spiritual. You just haven’t been tested correctly. Some laboratory tests or radiological scans may also not be available in your city. A lot of Nigerians die because they mistook a medical condition for a spiritual problem.