A good point. The admitting doctor suggested I might see a hematologist (blood specialist), see if they can scope out the origin of my clot, not just deal with the fact that there is a clot as-is - how did it get there? A very good question. I’ll ask about this with my new PCP next Thursday.
hey, I actually got to ask a doctor that question once, in all seriousness! (well, I asked about the piano…). I very hastily interrupted with “I actually DO play!!”.
It’s also fun to set your doctor up for a joke once in a while:
Hey, doc, it hurts when I do this. [move your arm or leg in an awkward motion]
If he has a sense of humor, he’ll reply:
Then don’t do that!
Did you mean “indestructible”?
Some of us ARE somewhat indescribable, that’s for sure.
I once had a patient ask me if he could ever play the violin again. However, since he came into the ER with an injured foot, it seemed a bit non-sequitiry. I asked if he could play the violin now. He looked a bit perturbed, then grumbled “no”.
“Doc, will I ever play double kick drum again?”
Twenty some years ago, a musician friend gave me a nice key of C harmonica. He told me if I kept it on my dashboard before I knew it I’d be playing. That was how he had learned harmonica.
Every time I run into him I tell him I still have the harp on my dash and I still can’t play a note.
Hmmm… did he say anything about raising it to your lips and blowing into it?
Heh, if he did I missed it. I have zero musical ability other than as an audience
was the idea you would get so bored in a traffic jam that you would start to play the blues?
First 0:37 seem important here, particularly for its oft-touted anticoagulant properties*
*No. Not really
Yeah, he would pick up his harmonica at every red light and play a bit. He was self taught, but eventually became very good. If you go to bars/clubs in West Virginia/Pennsylvania/Ohio/Maryland maybe you’ve seen him.
I met with my new PCP yesterday. I have to say, he was a crackerjack, really on top of stuff. Key takeaways:
- Since my clot may be ‘unprovoked’ (no proximate cause) I may be on blood thinners the rest of my life
- He’s referring me to a hematologist (blood specialist) to determine point 1 above.
- My clots will not be monitored, no imaging, he says there’s no point. Big surprise to me and not sure I understood the rationale. Basically if there is or isn’t a clot, the treatment is the same: blood thinners.
- He poo-poohed the whole “eat blood thinner meds with fat” thing, but sure, eat meds with cheese or full fat yogurt, whatever.
- I can travel after 3 months on blood thinners and my travel risk will be the same as anyone else
- But for the next 3-4 weeks stay close to a hospital just in case
- He showed me how to test my swelling in my clot leg: press thumb against shin bone, it stays indented (it’s quite startling when someone shows you).
In other “trouble comes in threes” news, I got bloodwork (PSA) back 2 days ago that shows my prostate cancer may have returned.
Could those be related?
Thanks for posting, i was worried about you, and happy to see that at least you’ve found a good doctor.
Clot and Cancer?
Thank you for worrying about me, @puzzlegal 
Yes, could something about the cancer have triggered the clot?
It’s complicated, but my cancer was prostate - they removed the prostate. There’s a prostate marker (PSA) that shouldn’t be in my blood because I don’t have a prostate. My PSA was zero for 4+ years and now it isn’t, so what’s generating PSA? Likely answer is cancer - cancerous prostate cells grew someplace in my body. Marginal/unlikely answer is some of my prostate survived. I don’t see how that could cause a clot.
Basically bad luck I guess 
I’m sorry for your troubles. Health problems are never much fun.
I hope your health and your luck improve soon.
Yes some cancers can trigger blood clots. A family member is going through treatment now for cancer that was discovered due to sudden onset of a blood clot. Good news where you can find it- even after a successful surgery the doc says they will always have this cancer but they most likely will not die from this cancer.
There is a link between cancer and DVT. Some metastatic cancers are more likely to cause clots, but prostate cancer isn’t one of them.