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September 20, 2007
A recent discovery...
And, another reason to stress the importance of being your own patient advocate…
If you’ll remember, I spoke recently about the necessity to advocate your own health (and not rely on what any one doctor says). Last night, I was, again, reminded of why this is so important.
You may also remember that about a year-and-a-half ago, I had a cholecystectomy (warning: gross pictures ahead!). In other words, my gall bladder was removed. The doctors found out about my failing gall bladder because of another issue I was having. This issue prompted a CT scan which resulted in finding gall stones, et cetera. No reason was given for why my gall bladder had gone bad, but the doctors were certain that it would help to cease some long-running digestive issues that I have had since I was very young. (Speaking of the results, I’d say that they were about 50% correct, so that’s a good thing.)
Anyway, last night, my wife and I were scouring the web, trying to find some sort of connection between my blood disorder and my AVN. We didn’t find much, actually (maybe a few articles that referenced both issues, but nothing very substantive), but we did find this:
Many of us with Factor V Leiden have had strokes and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). An unproven association is gall bladder disfunction, but many of us with thrombophilia have had trouble with or have had our gall bladders removed.
That’s from the Thrombophilia Support Page, a website that is maintained by people with Factor V Leiden and other blood clotting disorders.
Wow.
So, why do you think that not one doctor mentioned that my blood disorder might be responsible for my gall bladder?
That being said… Please do your homework, folks. If you are having any sort of medical issues, trust your doctors, but also do your own research.
Update: I just found the following…
About 25% of cases occur in patients with no detectable risk factors and are considered idiopathic. However, some patients have clotting abnormalities due to protein C or S deficiencies, hyperhomocystinemia, or anticardiolipin antibodies (see Thrombotic Disorders).
(Source.)
“Thrombotic Disorders” (above) links to:
Genetic defects that increase the propensity for venous thromboembolism include the factor V Leiden mutation, which causes resistance to activated protein C (APC); the prothrombin 20210 gene mutation; and a deficiency of protein C, protein S, protein Z, or antithrombin.
(Source.)
So, now, I’m even more sure than ever about the cause of my situation.
Posted at 10:36 am
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Jean - September 20, 2007 at 11:00 am
However, I think it is great Tim that you were able to find the “why” behind your gallbladder removal. I think the reason I would give for the doctor not making the connection between your Factor blood and gallbladder removal is that there is a difference between physicians and geneticists.
The point being, since we don’t have the many years of medical trainning, we are not going to have all of our “whys” answered all of the time. All we and the doctors can do is our best. Some of us are like you and want to know all of the whys which is part of many peoples personalities and is great. Others like myself, while knowing the “why” is important, aren’t interested in every single fine tune detail because I’m not a doctor and thus have limited knowledge. I still believe that a doctor with decades of experience in the medical field know more than myself who has not one medical class. However, that is my personality and that is fine as well. I just find it hard to bad mouth doctors who are saving lives, making correct diagnoses, etc. I might not know all of the fine tune whys but I know that doctors do the best that they can and are making greater strides than if we were left to our own devises.
dh () - September 21, 2007 at 09:25 am
