If you have UC or know someone who does, please read:

[carolm]

Hi all,
I was talking to a colleague who was recently hospitalized. She shared that she has Ulcerative Colitis and was in a severe flare. She went to see her GI (a new youngish doc). My coworker mentioned to her doctor that she felt short of breath. She expected her doc to say ‘well you’re anemic and tired. It’s probably that.’ She said instead her doc listened to her lungs then sent her for an MRI. The result was that she had blood clots in her right lung, right side of her heart and right leg.

She said her doc said they are starting to see a strong correlation between UC flares and blood clots forming in other parts of the body, as the body will boost its own clotting factor in an effort to stop any UC hemorrhaging. When that happens it becomes a life-threatening situation. The doctor knew to look further because she’d seen that situation before when she did a residency at Johns Hopkins.

I just wanted to share this because we may have members who have UC in addition to MC, or may have family members or friends with UC. They need to be aware of the potential of blood clot formation during a flare. My coworker said she wasn’t alarmed because she’d had UC for 40 years, since she was 15, and thought ‘it’s just another flare’, but obviously it was more. It was news to her and didn’t sound like it’s widely known.

Carol