Large blood clot...any hope?

Posted By Richie on April 03, 1999 at 23:52:28:







My father just had a serious stroke. A doppler test found a blood clot behind the heart measuring some 6 inches from which the clot that caused the stroke must likely broke off from. The surgery option was ruled out because the doctors believed the likelyhood that a piece (or pieces) would break off and cause a fatal stroke. They instead chose to use a number of blood thinners in an attempt to arrest the growth and dissolve the clot.
We understand that we're looking for a miracle here. The doctors have never even seen a clot of this size. My understanding of blood thinners is that they don't do anything to existing clots. Are there any that do?
Are we simply delaying the inevitable here? Any thoughts would be appreciated as we are realistic and understand what the likely outcome is.

                              Thank you, Richie