This really chaps my hide! 
It didn’t occur to any of them that it could, in fact, be a blood clot that could, in fact, become dislodged and threaten your life? Makes you wonder how hard it truly is to do med school and get a license these days.
I’m glad that you’ve made a lot of progress addressing the issue!
Hoping for a big, and well deserved, break to come your way.
And I do NOT mean a fracture 
I was in the hospital for 2 weeks because of my clotted leg. The first thing they did was trace the origin which was my heart. A 3 1/2 inch clot in my heart. I was on heparin continuously the whole time.
that’s very common in older people who are losing circulation in their feet. I have that on the bottom of both my feet.
You can squeeze your toe nails and see if the blood immediately pops back. You can also check the temperature of your leg with your hand. When I first reported to my doctor that my oximeter reading was 55 on my left toes she asked me if my leg was cold. I didn’t understand the question. What she was really asking me was if it was cold compared to the other leg. Once I understood that it was obvious that one leg was colder than the other.
I guess my question is how do you eliminate potentially lethal blood clots if an attempt has not been made to find them? I had 2 specialists tell me the exact opposite regarding drug therapy. I deferred to the more cautious of the 2.
Had I not pursued my gut feeling of my leg problem I would have lost the use of my leg.
So squeegee, do they have you sorted out?
Hey, thanks for checking back, @Magiver , I appreciate it.
As far as the clot, my status is what I wrote in post 253, except now I have an appointment on 10/31 with a hematologist to determine clot origin / how long I need to take blood thinners. I have another appointment with my new PCP in mid November to check back. Basically I’m stable for now. I check myself with an oximeter if I feel kinda breathless, it’s all been good. And I, without fail, take my blood thinners daily with something a little fatty (cheese lately). Blood thinners are my lot now.
As far as the cancer, I updated my prostate cancer thread, but basically they’re going to test me again in December and see if the cancer is progressing.
I’ve seen photos of this.
I tend to get puffy feet in warmer weather and/or when travelling. Last month my feet had begun getting swollen before we travelled out of town for a week, and were painfully swollen by the end of it. Weirdly, my shin area never dents much (though if I press and hold firmly enough I’ll see a faint dent). The feet and ankles, on the other hand, I’ve been known to compare to a memory foam mattress. Entertaining and bizarre at the same time.
Are puffy shins something peculiar to a clot scenario or something?
Well, my clot is in the popliteal vein, located at about knee height in my leg, so the swelling is from the foot up to the knee. So yes, I guess?
It took six weeks, but I just got a refund from United on that Thailand ticket 
Now my leg seems to have a rash and it’s itchy as hell. Which can’t possibly be clot related, but it is the same leg. It’s been several days and if this keeps up I’ll pop over to urgent care.
Whoopee on the refund! You’d better run out and buy a lottery ticket…on your way to the urgent care center.
Ya know… if the leg has already been itchy for several days, why wait? The thing you don’t want to hear is, “If only you had come in sooner…” Speaking as the widow of a one-legged man, “wait and see” doesn’t make a whole lotta sense to me. Just sayin’…
Fair enough. I set up a visit for later this morning.
Itchy rashes on the legs aren’t uncommon with DVT. The pressure buildup from the pooling of venous blood can leak from the veins and react with the skin. It’s called venous stasis dermatitis.
I don’t mean to sound indelicate but, were I your wife or daughter, I’d kick your ass. I really would. Get thee to a physician! NOW!
Damn. When men obey me, I get such a rush! Thank you for that. It’s been a while.
UC doc was quite puzzled - she said it looks like an allergic reaction, likened it to poison oak. Problem is I’ve been indoors, not walking around barefoot or in shorts (too chilly lately), so what would I be reacting to? I’m wearing the same shoes/socks I always do, haven’t changed soap, nothing. One thought is it’s the Xaralto, but then why react only on part of one leg? She ruled out infection or VS dermatitis, gave me Triamcinolone .1% topical, told me to take Benadryl and see if it gets worse, watch for trouble breathing or swallowing, go to ER if acute. Follow up with my PCP.
Okay. I feel better now. And that’s what counts, amirite?
Want to come over and scratch the itch? 
Um…noooo… not today. Or later either. 
Bad news, good news again. Eight days later the leg rash is much worse. Today’s UC doctor diagnosed cellulitis, a skin infection, so I’ve got a round of antibiotics to do to kill it.
In better news, they did an ultrasound on my leg and the clot in my popliteal vein is resolved Which the doctor says means the ones closer to my ankle will start resolving. Which confuses me - I didn’t know the lower part of my leg was involved, or maybe resolving the clot means it moves south until it disappears. Or something? I tried to get the doc to elaborate and things didn’t get clearer.
Radiology:
“Subocclusive thrombus” means a clot that wasn’t big enough to block anything.
It would be likely that the stagnant venuous blood upstream of the clot in your knee might begin to form their own clots. In this case, they didn’t get big enough to be a new problem, and I imagine they’ll resolve themselves with the continued anti-coagulant therapy (but IANAD).