Getting an Emergency Thrombectomy

My first pulmonary embolism was pretty significant, and it needed to be addressed as soon as possible. After receiving the official diagnosis of PE, I was given a few options for how we could approach the treatment.

I was given 3 treatment options for my PE

Option 1 was to give me blood thinners and clot-busting medicine and let my body slowly hack at the blood clots. Option 2 was to go in through a vein in my groin, through my heart, and into my lungs, and take out the clots manually. Option 3 was to surgically open my chest and remove them manually.

I’m super grateful that one of my doctors was working in the ICU that week and was called to consult on my case. We ultimately decided to go with option 2, which is called a thrombectomy.

My thrombectomy experience

I wish I could say I don’t remember much about the procedure to remove the clots from my lungs, but that would be a lie. I remember most of it. And like it happened yesterday. The procedure was not particularly painful or scary; I just remember it.

The procedure is done in the interventional radiology department where they can use special X-ray cameras and dye to help them "see" the clots and remove them with a small wire. It’s similar to a heart catheterization, but instead of working on the heart, they are working on the lungs.¹

Trouble with conscious sedation

The table I was lying on was cold and hard. Definitely not the most comfortable, but nothing about the entire situation was comfortable, either. My procedure was done under conscious sedation, where they give you medicine to help you relax and not remember much about the procedure, but you’re still able to respond to commands and move your body.

I don’t know if they had the wrong juice that day, because I remember the whole thing. I remember asking for more of that medicine over and over again because I was all too aware of what was going on around me.

Removing the clots

I guess there are parts about it that aren’t quite as clear. I don’t know, maybe the medicine was working better than I thought it was? I don’t remember the procedure taking all that long — 30 minutes to an hour, tops. But when I went to look back at the report from the procedure, it said it took 2 and a half hours! Maybe I was only conscious enough to ask for more medicine when it started to wear off?

Anyway, the doctor spent quite a long time trying to remove the clots. The tool he was using had a mechanism that used ultrasound waves to break up the clots, and then he would suck out the pieces that broke free through a catheter. The clot was so big that he was only able to remove a "moderate" amount of the clot during those 2 and a half hours.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite enough, so they had to hook me up to another machine called an EKOS that would continue to break down the clots over the next 24 hours.^2/sup>

Questions about my thrombectomy experience?

Once the procedure was finished and they had removed as much of the clot as they could, I was sent up to the pulmonary ICU to spend a few days.

There are many more details that I wish I could share, but I would end up writing a whole novel (maybe I should). If you have any specific questions, leave them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them!

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