Be aware of Deep Vein Thrombosis

Ive had 3 DVT's all at the same time. One had developed pre-op due to my lack of mobility and the other two post op. I noticed that my calves and feet were swelling quite a lot and it was getting worse. I cant say that I felt pain in my leg/calf area but the area around my calves felt painful to touch. 
The problem with this is that I was also numb in places and hypersensitive around the skin on my legs so it was difficult to say wether this pain was due to DVT's or not.
My advice would not be to wait until you present with all the symptoms but if you start suddenly with swelling or any of the other symptoms then get yourself to the doctors that day.

By the time I went, I already had one clot that had dislodged and was on its way to my heart...so im here by the grace of God.

I can remember when i stood that my feet and calf..especially the left one would balloon to a ridiculous size....gradually after a period of time on blood thinners the swelling decreased.

Now 2 years on im left with both calves swelling during the day if i dont spend a reasonably good time during the day with them raised on my bed.
The left is always 2/3 cm's bigger than the left. The doctor said that this swelling will always be present now due to the damage to the veins...

wavewolf...thankyou for pointing that out. Yes, its a must to go to your medical practitioner to get it checked out if you suspect a blood clot.

Massage is helpful for circulation but must be avoided in the event of a blood clot...If you are found to have one, you will be put on treatment and advised on how to self manage during this period.

I was on injections for one week and then blood thining medication for 6 months and i had to avoid physio during this period.

For information puropses I will follow on a post with regards to treatment.

Delboy, actually I thought as you did and learned the hard way!

Would love to chat--just saw your invite, but it's 5:26am here and I need to get to bed.  I often work at night, on-call, so I am really ready to sleep!  Been awake almost 20 hours.

Great info Lαrα, this is useful for anyone with any disability! It's truly crazy what you've been through but thankfully you're healthy and still with us

I got one while I was in rehab, I was on warfarin for 4 months and no problem since. The doctors told me it was proberly caused by my surgery even though I wore those horrid white stockings.

I actually had this happen to me about 10 years ago. I had been back to work for awhile in a machine shop. I was a CNC machine set up man and operator. I had trouble with my legs one nite at work, they were swollen and very painful. I made it through the nite and was mowing my small yard the next day before going to work. I made a path about halfway down one side and my left calf locked up, I couldn't use it, my foot wouldn't pick up at the toes as normal. I shut the mower off and sat down on the tailgate to my truck. Rubbed my calf for a minute or two and it seemed to feel a bit better. So back to mowing. About halfway down the yard again my calf locked up. I shut the mower off and went inside and sat down to look at my calf. I took my shoes and socks off and there it was, my left foot was completely black. I called my Dr and he told me to come right in. I went right away. After getting into the exam room I was told to take off my shoes and socks and that the Dr would be right in. He came in looked at my left foot, felt for a pulse and ran out of the room. Not 2 minutes later he came back in with a note and sent me to the hospital ànd said that they wouldbe waiting for me. I was rushed up to a room examined by a heart surgeon on. They ran one test and had me signing papers and explaining to me about how dangerous what was going on was, I had a 99% blockage above my left knee and if not taken care of immediately I would lose my leg, and that I need to sign papers in case it broke loose during the angioplasty they would have to take my leg to save my life. I'm still here today thanks to them. That was also the last time that they would let me go back to work. I had been back to work 4 different times since my original back surgery in 1976. I hope that someone might read this and get something helpful out of it.