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An Interview with Lainie Kazan

LK:  I was in the hospital for about a month. It took me years to recover, to be perfectly honest with you. I was on blood thinners for about two years, and I had to keep my foot raised a lot. Believe it or not, I eventually had hip replacement surgery because I had favored the leg for so long. I was at greater risk for DVT when I had the surgery.

GB:  Because you had previously had DVT?

LK:  Yes. The good news is that the number of DVT blood clots can be reduced. I want to share my experience and encourage people to know what their stats are, what their risks are; so I’m on a campaign to increase awareness.

GB:  I think that’s so very important. How do you think we can lower our risks and our loved one’s risks for DVT?

LK:  It’s important for people to have the right kind of discussion with their healthcare professional to find out when they are at increased risk. Their risk increases if they smoke a lot, if they are going to be immobilized in any way, or have restricted mobility, or chemotherapy.

GB:  I read some place where you said, “Just keep moving; you’ve got to help your doctor.” I love that point.

LK:  I think an active, healthy life combined with having those conversations with your healthcare provider really help you, and help to discover if you are at risk, and what to do about it. If people are curious, they can log onto the Web site preventDVT.org

GB:  What should a caregiver be looking for if you have a loved one who has become immobilized due to accident or illness?

LK:  Usually if there’s a pain in a lower extremity, in the leg, or the calf; and if it has progressed to pulmonary embolism, you’ll feel these flu-like symptoms.

GB:  I find this fascinating because we’re not just talking about the leg implications, but also about the lungs, too.

LK:  Well, the leg has the DVT, the deep vein thrombosis. When it moves up from the calf to the lung, then it becomes a pulmonary embolism and this becomes the real complication. So the DVT is serious, but the complication can be a killer. It’s quite staggering, you know, because so many people don’t know what DVT is.

GB:  What would be the most important piece of advice you would like to leave with family caregivers?

LK:  If people feel that they are at risk, they need to have a serious discussion with their healthcare provider. I have so many people who come up to me and ask if they think I might think they have a DVT or a PE. I’m not a doctor, and I really can’t tell them whether they are at risk or not, but I think their physician can; or they can go online and learn more about DVT.