Beware the blood clots!

I'm traveling from Hawaii after having spent a few days there for the Society of Critical Care Medicine conference. The plane ride there from NYC was 10-12 hours total. I am unfortunately flying the transatlantic route from Hawaii and as such I flew to LAX (5 hours) then I'll have 16 hours to Dubai and another 6 hours to Dhaka.

 

 In our line of work (pulmonary/critical care) we see a lot of blood clots in the legs(deep vein thromboses) and in the lungs(pulmonary emboli). These lead to being on blood thinners for a prolonged period of time. Certainly my exposure to patients like this is the reason I am currently wearing compression stockings, chugging tons of water, have taken an aspirin and will be doing leg exercises in my seat to try and prevent this from happening. Yes of course there is a risk but I may be overdoing it...and it leads to a reminder that we are all biased by our experiences. As I continue to think about and prepare for what's to come I have to remember that my own experiences are in a sense a limitation where I am going. There must be room for creativity, ingenuity, pliability and the ability to keep an open mind.  What we see commonly in the US is not necessarily what we will see commonly in Bangladesh. Every global health setting comes with its own personality and its own challenges!