Five years ago today, my mom passed away from complications following lung surgery. A surgery as it turned out that was unneccessary and ultimately led to her death. Unfortuantely, my mom suffered from a condition called DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis), a life threatening condition that affects up to 2 million Americans each year.
DVT oocurs when a blood clot forms in a deep vein, usually in the lower limbs. A complication of DVT, pulmonary embolism, can occur when a fragment of a blood clot breaks loose from the wall of the vein and migrates to the lungs, where it blocks a pulmonary artery or one of its branches.
Five years ago, my mom went to the doctor complaining of pain in her chest and back so an xray was taken. The physician found a spot on her lung and since she was a smoker, suggested she have a lung biopsy to verify whether it was lung cancer. As it turned out, she did not suffer from lung cancer but had suffered from a pulmonary embolism which had cut off blood supply to a portion of her lung appearing on the xray as a spot. Unfortunately, the pulmonary embolism wasn't discovered until she'd had the surgery, a sugery that put her at risk for a second pulmonary embolism which occurred four days later and subsequently, led to her death. So every year on the anniversary of her death, I do my part to educate the public about this life threatening silent killer.
Of those Americans who suffer from pulmonary embolism as a result of DVT, 200,000 will die annually. More people die from pulmonary embolism than breast cancer and aides combined. Many may remember the reporter in Iraq who died suddenly in 2002 after being cooped up on a tank during the war. He suffered from DVT and died as a result of Pulmonary Embolism. Fortunately, as a result of his death and the death of many others, a coalition was formed to educate both the public and the medical profession about this disease. To learn more about DVT, Pulmonary Embolism and the Cooalition to prevent DVT, click on the link provided at the bottom of the page.
In honor of my mother who collected Delft dishes, I have created the following bracelet and earring set. The gorgeous beads in this set (created by Gina DeStevens) remind me of the blue and white dishes she had displayed on a plate rack around our dining room when I was growing up.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
