| Last Updated June 29, 2005 |
My TOS :
On April 2nd, 2004, my left arm suddently turned purple. Thinking it would go away, I ignored it throughout the weekend. Then, on Monday, April 5th, I finally went to the doctor. Though I have NONE of the risk factors for a blood clot, my purple arm was due to a blood clot in my left subclavian vein. I was put into ICU for 2 days and the doctors thankfully dissolved 95% of it. The blood clot formed due to the compression between my clavicle and 1st rib. My choices were blood thinners for life (very risky) or surgery to remove the 1st rib. Though I was highly distressed, I chose to have the surgery. The surgeon recommended waiting 5 weeks, so I was on blood thinners for 5 weeks, and then had the left rib removed. It was a successful surgery, until my left arm turned purple five days later. I had to have another surgery due to the hematoma that was due to the blood thinner. The excessive bleeding caused compression on the vein and hence the purple arm again. Thankfully, the surgeon acted quickly and the bloodflow in my arm was restored. By the way, though I was completely scared of having the surgery, the WORST part was the morning of the surgery. The recovery / recuperation time was, thankfully, very smooth and pleasant (except for the 2nd incidence of the purple arm). My right subclavian arm was also "checked" just before the 2nd operation. It turns out that my right vein is 50% compressed when my arm is at rest and 100% compressed when my arm is raised. The two best surgeons in the country recommend that I have the right rib removed in order to prevent a blood clot from forming on the right side. There are others who recommend against it. Have any of you been in this situation, and if so, did you have the surgery proactively? May God bless all of you!
Dr. Samuel Ahn