Thank you, Victoria. I had never heard of this. Great job being proactive, and advocating for your mom to get what she needed. It also shows the importance of having a good relationship with your loved one’s doctors. And about the exhaustion… the is probably the biggest contributor to my caregiver exhaustion right now—the whiplash of constantly, quickly switching between various responsibilities and roles.
Thanks, Tina. We have really great relationships with the oncologists, and our GP practice is great, but because the practice covers a large population and geographic area, it's not always possible to maintain a continuous relationship with 1 doctor. They do their best. Still, I've been watching in case I need to dial emergency services.
I asked Rachel (who's a GP) to comment to check her thoughts, in addition to the references I shared, because I'm increasingly surprised that DDimer is not more commonly known.
I’m fairly knowledgeable about a lot of medical terminology (certainly not all), but that was a new one. And I’ve had loved ones on blood thinners due to stroke.
So sorry you and your mum had a tough week, Victoria. I would hope - am sure - the DDimer test would have been suggested without you having to ask for it with the symptoms and risk factors your mum presented with.
One thing to watch for is the doppler ultrasound is a yes/no and the DVT service will manage it if it’s a yes ( clot ) but if it’s a no ( no clot ) that’s great, but they will then advise you to go back to the GP, to work out what it is, the most common things being cellulitis ( infection needing antibiotics ); venous insufficiency which can benefit from support stockings; calf muscle injury; or a ruptured bakers cyst ( back of knee, related to osteoarthritis and gravity takes the fluid from it down into the calf ).
I hope the weeken brings you some rest from the appointments. ( Why do these things always happen on a Friday! ? )
Oh snd I’m totally with you on virtual wards. Happened to us once, with the additional joy of them saying, but bo nurse visits cos you’re a doc, you can do it. Which meant I basically managed him myself. xx
Thanks so much for reading and sharing your medical knowledge, Rachel.
Absolutely, our GP definitely would have suggested it first - he was listening first, offering second. He was great, and we were very aligned from the outset. The eConsult works well with our practice. It reaffirms the 'how' I need to alert them, and is really reassuring.
Thanks, I'm much more relaxed now - still monitoring symptoms but less edgy!
Yes, I often wonder what would happen if I refused Virtual Ward system and rely on alerting our GP practice...Hopefully I don't need to find out and can avoid hospitalisations.
Interesting. I have never heard of that test. I had a DVT recently and has since gone but not once did I ever here about this test. My son was very sick when he had Covid. He had double pneumonia, and again never heard of this test. Definitely something I will be reading more into. Thank you for sharing.
Then I’m really glad I’ve written the article - check out the references, Debbie. It’s not a definitive diagnostic test - hence the need for the ultrasound to locate the DVT but it’s a good screener for getting the prescription if you’re not already on a blood thinner (anticoagulant)
Thank you, Victoria. I had never heard of this. Great job being proactive, and advocating for your mom to get what she needed. It also shows the importance of having a good relationship with your loved one’s doctors. And about the exhaustion… the is probably the biggest contributor to my caregiver exhaustion right now—the whiplash of constantly, quickly switching between various responsibilities and roles.
Thanks, Tina. We have really great relationships with the oncologists, and our GP practice is great, but because the practice covers a large population and geographic area, it's not always possible to maintain a continuous relationship with 1 doctor. They do their best. Still, I've been watching in case I need to dial emergency services.
I asked Rachel (who's a GP) to comment to check her thoughts, in addition to the references I shared, because I'm increasingly surprised that DDimer is not more commonly known.
I hope the whiplash calms a little. I hear you!!
I’m fairly knowledgeable about a lot of medical terminology (certainly not all), but that was a new one. And I’ve had loved ones on blood thinners due to stroke.
I'm glad I could share it with you, so you know now. The references share more details about DDimer.
Mum's not been on blood thinners before this event. Dad was on warfarin for ages
So sorry you and your mum had a tough week, Victoria. I would hope - am sure - the DDimer test would have been suggested without you having to ask for it with the symptoms and risk factors your mum presented with.
One thing to watch for is the doppler ultrasound is a yes/no and the DVT service will manage it if it’s a yes ( clot ) but if it’s a no ( no clot ) that’s great, but they will then advise you to go back to the GP, to work out what it is, the most common things being cellulitis ( infection needing antibiotics ); venous insufficiency which can benefit from support stockings; calf muscle injury; or a ruptured bakers cyst ( back of knee, related to osteoarthritis and gravity takes the fluid from it down into the calf ).
I hope the weeken brings you some rest from the appointments. ( Why do these things always happen on a Friday! ? )
Oh snd I’m totally with you on virtual wards. Happened to us once, with the additional joy of them saying, but bo nurse visits cos you’re a doc, you can do it. Which meant I basically managed him myself. xx
Thanks so much for reading and sharing your medical knowledge, Rachel.
Absolutely, our GP definitely would have suggested it first - he was listening first, offering second. He was great, and we were very aligned from the outset. The eConsult works well with our practice. It reaffirms the 'how' I need to alert them, and is really reassuring.
Thanks, I'm much more relaxed now - still monitoring symptoms but less edgy!
Yes, I often wonder what would happen if I refused Virtual Ward system and rely on alerting our GP practice...Hopefully I don't need to find out and can avoid hospitalisations.
Thank you for sharing this, Victoria!!
You’re welcome, Cathy. Thanks for reading.
Interesting. I have never heard of that test. I had a DVT recently and has since gone but not once did I ever here about this test. My son was very sick when he had Covid. He had double pneumonia, and again never heard of this test. Definitely something I will be reading more into. Thank you for sharing.
Then I’m really glad I’ve written the article - check out the references, Debbie. It’s not a definitive diagnostic test - hence the need for the ultrasound to locate the DVT but it’s a good screener for getting the prescription if you’re not already on a blood thinner (anticoagulant)