Chris Graham talks with Dr. Andrew Mihalek, an associate professor at the UVA School of Medicine, to learn about pulmonary embolism – from the warning signs that you may have a blood clot to treatment.
Dr. Mihalek currently oversees the pulmonary medicine curriculum for the UVA School of Medicine. His clinical time is spent leading the development of an acute pulmonary embolus response team and serving as one of the co-directors for the multidisciplinary UVA Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic.
For Graham, the editor of Augusta Free Press, the topic is personal – he was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism in March.
From the Archives
- COVID zapped UVA hoops: I almost got taken out by blood clots
My weird Friday started, like a lot of yours did, with the news that Virginia was out of the 2021 ACC Tournament. Jumping ahead: I’m writing this Friday night from a hospital room, where I’m being observed overnight after doctors discovered that I had two rather impressive blood clots in my lungs. - Everything you wanted to know about my bout with pulmonary embolism, but were afraid to ask
As of a few days ago, the only thing I knew about a pulmonary embolism was that my father had died from one in 2008. - That one where the docs had to remind me that I’m allergic to bees
“OK, let’s see. We do have you with a bee allergy.” A bee allergy? I have to admit, had to scan the inner recesses of the old noggin to remember that I would have ever had a bee allergy. - A blood clot almost killed the Elite Eight referee
Remember the referee who collapsed early in the Gonzaga-USC Elite Eight game, that we were told on TV was going to be fine? Turns out Bert Smith wouldn’t have been fine if he hadn’t gone to get checked out.