Sorry! Forgot to post sooner!!

Hey everyone - I've gotten a lot of friendly reminders to post - but seriously, it has been a CRAZY week!! On Tuesday night, I almost turned off my alarm to sleep in a little because I thought it was Friday night!! YIKES!

I'm moving into my new place tomorrow and have been hustlin' & bustlin' - If anyone wants to help, I only have 4 people helping me and at different times... Oh well, it will work out somehow.

SO, on Monday, my INR went down from 1.93 to 1.8 - the new regimen is 10mg, 8mg, 10mg, etc. and get my blood re-drawn next Monday (at which point, I will try to remember to update this sooner).  There are a bunch of foods that have vitamin K in them - I'm allowed to eat them, but only 1 cup/day... but how do you figure out how much vitamin K is in spinach versus garbanzo beans? So until we get my INR levels to between 2-4, I have to cut out all vitamin K - since that's the only thing left (I'm doing everything else by the book with no changes).

What is vitamin K in, you wonder? Well let me tell you: asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, garbanzo beans, collard greens, cucumber peel, endive, green onions, kale (SERIOUSLY??), lettuce, mustard greens, parsley, peas, scallions, soybeans, spinach, swiss chard, turnip greens, watercress, canola oil, green tea, egg yolk, liver (no problem there), and soybean oil.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Those are alot of my fave veggies... Of course, this isn't for forever - I'm allowed to let it back in slowly after my INR levels are between 2-4 for a while.

Weeza tore her ACL and will have to have surgery in early December and most likely won't be here for T'giving :(

Issues with INR

Ever since my surgery 2-3 weeks ago (?), I've had trouble getting my INR levels back up between 2-4... I was temporarily in the range a couple of weeks ago and graduated from the shots, but I'm back under now :(  Last Wednesday, my level was 1.4 and though it was 1.93 on Friday, the hematologist has me going back tomorrow (Monday) to get my blood drawn again and to get a leg ultrasound.

Really the leg ultrasound is to ease my mind more than anything else - I haven't had the filter in to catch clots, my coumadin levels (the meds that keep the clots at bay) aren't quite right, and occasionally I have swelling in my left leg.  So the Doc suggested a leg ultrasound to let us know where we are and I fully agreed!

So that's where we are now! I wear compression socks everyday, which aren't completely good looking, so if you see me, that's why I'm wearing the hideous things, but besides that, not much else I can do!! My daily dosage has gone from 5 mg, to 6mg and now I'm taking 10mg on day1, 8mg on day 2, 8mg on day3, and then repeat back to 10mg, 8mg, 8mg, etc.

I will keep everyone posted on tomorrow's results. I'm not sure if I'll find out immediately - they seem to not tell you anything until they tell the Doc - SO frustrating!! But when I know, you will know!!

Keep Weeza in your prayers - I feel safe writing this because she NEVER checks the blog anymore (and she tends to be more private than I am), but she was playing in a soccer game today and wrenched her knee... she's in a full leg cast and crutches :(

Good Vibes

Thanks for sending good vibes my way Barbara!! I think that did it!! They didn't tell me my level on Friday, but they said I could stop taking the shots, stick with the 8mg of coumadin, and not get my blood drawn until next Friday (11/2)!

Thanks everyone for all the vibes, prayers, good thoughts!! I love that I don't have to take shots for the next week - here's hoping I won't have to ever again!!

:)

Trouble in INR land...

So, you have to have an INR level of any number between 2-4 and this is your level of coumadin in your blood (aka blood thinner).  Every morning, I give myself a shot of blood thinner (in my stomach!), which I've strangely gotten really good at.  Every evening, I take 6mg of coumadin.  I had to stay in the hospital until my coumadin levels had been between 2-4 for 2 days in a row.  I went off the coumadin (but stayed on shots) for the surgery last Friday, and now I'm having trouble getting my levels back up to speed.

[Behind the scenes look at coumadin: it takes 3 days to get into your system and the shot takes effect right away... I went of the coumadin for surgery, and then started the day of surgery since it wouldn't be in my system for  little while....clear, right?]

This week, I had my blood drawn on Monday and it was 1.5 - then blood drawn on Wednesday and it was again 1.5... so upped the dosage of coumadin to 8mg!! We'll see what happens tomorrow when I get my blood drawn...

Word to the wise, for any doctors or nurses who read this... if you walk into a room, muttering to yourself "this isn't good... hmmmmmm.... not sure what we're going to do about this," you're not really instilling a lot of confidence in the patient - you've actually now freaked them out - thanks for that.

So, here's hoping and praying for those levels to go up!! :)

Belated Post Surgery Update

Sorry for the delayed update.  I thought Weeza had done it, but I forgot to remind her (oops!).  I had surgery on Friday and they removed the filter from my neck... I wasn't completely out for it (as I had been led to believe) and at the end, they showed me the filter and it had 3 clots in it! Glad it was doing its job, but I'm a little worried about what that means now...

I was sore on Friday and was given a little bit of meds in the am, but no meds in the pm... I was supposed to lie down and not do anything, but that clearly didn't happen (I've got stuff to do!! ) and I made it worse... I know, silly Julia... but patience at this stage of the game hasn't been working out for me.  I was in bed, but I was doing in work in bed - I thought it was a decent attempt at cheating the system, but not so much.

I was really sore Saturday morning (apparently should've gotten better, but I didn't completely follow doctors orders Friday, so there you go).  I couldn't turn my head completely to the left or right and my neck was VERY sore to the touch.  But I didn't do ANYTHING on Saturday and felt a lot better on Sunday :)  I even went to church.  Though I realized on the drive in, why I wasn't supposed to drive - it's hard to change lanes if it hurts to move your neck... but I safely made in and out of town, and today I feel great!

Though, the wound itself looks like I got bitten by a vampire (I pick Eric).  No, Robin, I DO NOT pick  anyone from Twilight... I can't remember anyone's name... Edwin? That's not right and I'm okay with the fact that I can't remember.

I got my blood drawn today and my INR level is 1.5 - which isn't good - but no freaking out yet! I just have to take both the coumadin and shots until my INR level comes up! I get my blood drawn again on Wednesday, so here's hoping!!

Been awhile, but I'm still doing okay :)

After much scolding from smaller people (Team Thurlow's children and Team Failmezger's children), I am writing again after a bit of a break...

I am doing much better.  I still tire easily and am most frustrated with this aspect, but word on the street is that recovery is going to be a longer road than I had bargained on.  I went to Summerton this past weekend because I was cleared by all my Doc's to go... but Saturday realized I had overdone it and ended up sleeping at Amanda's house (Thanks, Amanda!!) for 3 HOURS!! Yikes!!

SO, I'm going to chill the rest of the day...

But for the sake of smaller people begging to be included on the blog (see above :)  ), I went to see Dawn & Chris when I first got into town and then I stayed with the Failmezger's on Friday night and had a DELICIOUS dinner with the fam and loved seeing Shea, Emma, Harmon, Teige, and Sophie :)  (THERE - you got a shout out!!) :)

Saturday I got to see Wyatt & Mckenzie Simpson, Trina, Shannon, Amanda, Robin G, Neath, Jen, & Team Thurlow. (And stayed with the wonderful Team Thurlow Sat & Sun nights.) Sunday I got to see and visit with St. Matthias peeps and had a Birthday party for all of Team Thurlow and myself AND went to the Goat with Team Thurlow (love).
Monday = all of CHS students and faculty - except some who were not in their rooms when I went looking for them and people who were on field trips when I visited! (What??)
And Trina & Melissa - thanks for giving me shots all weekend :)

So, now that I'm done with the shout outs...

Had the echocardiogram this afternoon - I still don't like those very much because my heart and lungs are still pretty sore... it went well as far as I know, but I won't get the real report until Friday.

I have surgery on Friday (10/19) to get the filter out and possibly something else (may have missed exactly what the doctor said...) - I'll get my dear sweet sister to update the blog on Friday after the procedure, since I'll be sleeping it off (and not able to move my leg for 4 hours afterwards!!)

Last but not least - my INR levels have gone down to below 2-4 (1.8 or 1.9... can't remember).  I'm currently on shots to bridge the gap before the surgery (can't be on coumadin right before the surgery).  After surgery, I have to continue with shots & coumadin to get my levels back up (I am NOT a fan of the shots... but they leave a little bruise the size of a small dot - and i'm organizing the dots into a picture, because it's more fun that way.)  (I know, a little sad, but when in my position, it's the little things.)

Getting back to Normal

I went to see my pulmonologist last week and I was cleared for work this week - but I was nervous about Monday because it's such a busy day for me and I tend to get wiped out after 2 hours of an activity (and then have to take a big nap to feel normal again), so I'm going back tomorrow (Tuesday) for what will end up being more like a half day and we will see what happens!

I will get my blood drawn every week to check my INR levels and my next big appointment is next Thursday (10/11).

Next big thing to have happen is to get my filter removed (= the umbrella-like-thing that is catching my clots) and it's supposed to be removed in 4-6 weeks, so they're looking at late October.

I will keep you posted on how things are going, but with my going back to school, everything seems to be returning to normal :)  I'm just hopeful it will stay that way.  I want to go on a (small) road trip next weekend (10/12-14), but I'm not sure if I will be up to it, so we will see...