When the vein is blocked, it causes blood to back up in the vein causing high pressures in all the veins below it. (therefore the need for blood thinners, currently I am giving myself 2 injections a day and blood pressure med's. Even though I don't have high blood pressure, I have high Portal pressure, that is, internal blood pressure on my major organs, we need to slow that pressure down so that I don't bleed internally!)
The condition is medically known as portal vein thrombosis (PVT). In addition, the organs returning blood to the portal vein, like the spleen, get engorged with blood. In many cases, the body attempts to bypass this blocked vein by developing thin walled veins (collaterals). These collaterals are large and appear like varicosities (big vericose veins but on the inside of me) The majority of these varicose veins are seen at the lower end of the esophagus (eating tube) but may appear anywhere in the abdomen. This is why I have to keep getting these veins in my esophagus banded to prevent them from bleeding, in an attempt to make them smaller.
How common is portal vein thrombosis (PVT)?In the US, PVT is a relatively rare condition with an overall incidence of 5 per 10,000 individuals. So why did I get this?
- No liver failure (biopsy confirmed my liver is fine!)
- No cancer (after many tests, nothing has come back positive)
- No blood disorder (all my labs came back normal)
- Trauma or Pregnancy
The Doctors now believe that I got this when I was pregnant with Luke and things progressively worsened after my delivery. Doctors instructions: NO more babies!!!! Thank you Lord for blessing my life with 2 beautiful children.
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