SAVING SHELSEY

from Area Woman Magazine Jun/Jul '17

by Lake & Home Magazine | Area Woman Magazine

JUNE JULY

New Treatment Removes Dangerous Blod Clot

As A Healthy

21-year-old, Shelsey Honer didn’t think the pain in her hip was life-threatening. When it got worse and spread to her thigh, she thought she might have strained a muscle. But when the pain became much worse and caused her calf to swell and turn purple, she headed to the emergency room.

An ultrasound at Essentia Health–St. Mary’s in Detroit Lakes discovered Honer had a massive blood clot that extended from her groin to her leg. Because such a clot can be life-threatening, prompt and aggressive treatment was needed.

“I’m a nursing student,” says Honer, who attends Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Detroit Lakes. “I’ve taken anatomy and physiology so I knew what the inferior vena cava is — it’s the biggest vein in your body. And I knew that a blood clot there is not a good deal.”

Honer was transferred by ambulance to Essentia Health–Fargo and into the care of Dr. Richard Coursey, a vascular and interventional radiologist. He explained the 8-inch clot was dangerous because it could break up, travel to her lungs and cause death.

“I really couldn’t process it — that this could be fatal,” recalls Honer, who lives in New York Mills, Minnesota. “I felt like a little kid again and kept looking at my mom.”

Lisa Honer says she wanted to make it all better, but felt helpless. “She’s my little ray of sunshine and it put me in a tailspin,” she says. “I didn’t want to lose my child.”

The Honer family turned to Coursey and the team in the intensive care unit. “All you can do is pray,” Lisa Honer says. “God answered my prayers through other people.”

Coursey began treating Honer with a clot-busting drug, the first line of therapy for people with large blood clots. Over three days, the drug dissolved the newer clot in her leg but an older six-inch clot in her pelvis persisted. The residual clot needed to be removed to prevent Honer from developing another one.

“We didn’t want to keep a foundation for a new clot,” Coursey explains. “Once we’ve removed the blockage, the blood can still flow slowly around the old clot and become so sluggish that the whole thing clots again.” Residual clots also damage veins, which causes swelling and pain that gets worse with activity.

Coursey offered a new treatment called AngioVac, which vacuums the residual clot out through a small catheter. Instead of traditional open surgery, the procedure requires only a few small incisions. The clot is filtered out by a device on a heart-lung bypass machine and the clot-free blood is returned to the body. Little blood is lost in the procedure.

“It was scary, but we had limited options and we had to do something,” Lisa recalls. “Coursey was drawing pictures and answering all my questions. I wanted to know every detail and risk.”

Honer says she chose the new treatment because Coursey did a good job of explaining it and she had confidence in him. “I trusted him,” she says. “Dr. Coursey laid out all the options and let me choose what I wanted to do. I suffer from anxiety but he was so relaxed and confident that I felt that it’s OK. That everything will be OK.”

After successful treatment with the AngioVac, Coursey inserted a stent in Honer’s damaged vein to help keep it open. Even so, she developed another clot soon after she was discharged from the hospital. “I knew I wanted to go right back to Coursey,” she says. The new clot was successfully treated with drugs.

Coursey referred Honer to a hematologist who performed additional tests and discovered the cause of her clots: She has two genetic blood-clotting disorders. A blood-thinning prescription now helps reduce her risk of another clot.

Honer and Lisa praise the care they received from Coursey and the staff at Essentia Health–Fargo. “They all were a godsend,” Lisa says.

Honer also credits her mother, who insisted she go to the emergency room instead of out with friends that October night. “She saved my life,” the daughter says.

For better or worse... vow to discuss your insurance

When planning the rest of your life together, it’s important you both understand how your insurance coverage needs will change as a newly married couple. Call today .

When planning the rest of

When as a newly married couple. Call today .

When planning the rest of your life together, it’s important you both understand how your insurance coverage needs will change as a newly married couple. Call today .

Jessica Kalenze

Jessica

Financial Representative Fargo, ND 58103-5936 (701)235-5411

Financial

Financial Representative Fargo,

Financial Representative Fargo, ND 58103-5936 (701)235-5411

Life insurance policies issued by COUNTRY Life Insurance Company® and COUNTRY Investors Life Assurance Company®, Bloomington, IL. 0415-554HC-22558-5/3/2017