I had an ipsilateral recurrent DVT in my left leg. Kaiser failed on so many levels: at the ER I should've been treated with some kind of thrombolysis or mechanical thrombectomy, but was only offered Lovenox and Pradaxa. The internal medicine physician I had failed to refer me to a specialist for follow up, and without care and investigation, I developed post thrombotic syndrome in that leg, which means I spend the rest of my life in some degree of pain with the possibility of developing ulcers.
The specialist I went to see at Stanford, Lawrence Hofmann, was very clear that had I presented within the first two weeks, he could have simply removed the clot, but since I saw him 5 months after the event, the thrombus was chronic and wouldn't respond to treatment.
In the end, I had to leave the USA and get a proper diagnosis by surgeons in Italy: turns out I had a congenital compression of my left iliac vein which was causing the clotting and a stent was placed to open the vein.
