Further spleen adventures

Last year I had a splenic infarct which killed off 20% of my spleen (more about that incident on this post). Terribly painful; I don’t recommend. There is no treatment for a splenic infarct (unless it takes over most of your spleen and then you get a splenectomy); you just have to wait it out until the pain subsides.

Quick review: a splenic infarct is a blood clot that lands in the spleen and does damage. Similar to how a clot in the brain can cause a stroke.

Last week on Sunday, I started to feel pain in my spleen, accompanied by a feeling of it being enlarged. Because of my splenic infarct last year, I recognized this specific pain and discomfort. It was pretty bad all week, and I upped my pain medication to help manage things. The pain wasn’t quite bad enough to go to the ER like before, and I knew I had a scheduled appointment with my oncologist on Thursday, so I gritted my teeth and pushed through. At the doctor appointment, he was concerned enough to send me in for a CT scan, which took place today.

By the end of the week I started to feel better and the pressure lessened, but as luck would have it, the CT revealed that I had indeed had another splenic infarct. So, now I have something else to be stressed about. Blood clots are no joke. So far they’ve been landing in my spleen, but they can be devastating if they land in your brain, lungs, or heart especially.

Blood clots are not a typical result of neuroendocrine cancer, so I’m probably going to need a dedicated blood doctor separate from my oncologists to monitor this. Last year after my first splenic infarct I had a million tests done on me, and no results were conclusive, other than I was diagnosed with Factor V Leiden, which basically means I’m slightly more genetically inclined to get clots than other people. Not a terribly helpful diagnosis since there is no cure and at the time I was told “wait and see if a clot happens again”, because they didn’t want to put me on permanent blood thinners unless they had too.

Well, it happened again so that’s likely my future. Better than the alternative, for sure! I don’t mind taking another daily pill; easy peasy.