Medical Scare For CBS3 Meteorologist Kate Bilo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Kate Bilo, a CBS3 meteorologist, is recovering from blood clots in her lung, after spending a scary weekend hospitalized.
Bilo, who is sharing her story via Facebook, said it started with a dull pain in her ribs that spread to her shoulder.
But when Advil didn't help, she drove herself to the hospital.
A CT scan revealed pulmonary embolisms or blood clots in the lungs.
"It's relatively common and can be very dangerous," Dr. Joseph Bushra said.
Dr. Bushra, who is the chief of emergency medicine at Lankenau Medical Center, said the clots usually start in the leg and travel through the heart and into the lungs.
Bilo's ordeal comes just three weeks after she had a baby.
"Most pregnant women have some swelling in the legs to begin with, so the blood flow through the legs isn't normal," Dr. Bushra explained. "And then often they aren't moving around as much, especially after having a baby, so that combination of things will often lead to this condition."
Bilo sent the following message via Facebook: "Please let my experience serve as a reminder to ALWAYS listen to what your body is telling you - it would have been so easy for me to write off the pain as muscular or think 'I'm too busy to go to the ER. And sometimes that's the difference between life and death.'"
Dr. Bushra said Bilo made a wise choice.
"She did the right thing; she came to the hospital; she listened to her body," he said.
Dr. Bushra is applauding Bilo for going public with her story because he feels people need to know not to ignore unusual pains.
"The quicker the treatment you get the better the outcome," Dr. Bushra said.
The main symptoms for pulmonary embolism is chest pain and shortness of breath. It's typically treated with blood thinners and there are usually no long term complications.
As of this report, Bilo is home, resting and thanking everyone for their support and well wishes.