To Put This Episode To Rest

As those of you who have been following my posts know, Friday I was discharged from the hospital. After a "demo" shot I gave myself in the hospital, I had to do two additional injections, then have blood drawn on Saturday. I had a miserable time getting a report from the on call doctor which would determine the course of further treatments (including more self-administered injections) and dosage. I made three calls to the answering service yesterday before I finally found out that after inching up slowly over the course of my hospital stay, the level of blood thinner took a dramatic jump from Friday to Saturday: no more shots and a reduced dose of Coumadin!! Almost as good, no more blood draws until next Friday! So I am home with few restrictions. I will be on the blood thinner for 6 months with periodic checks over the course of treatment. I finished Jane's blanket I was working on, and we are heading back to the salt mine tomorrow. Since I didn't leave the air conditioning on and no one had a key, I anticipate finding dead houseplants and cockroaches to greet me. It has been a week of reflection and reassessment. I don't know what the fallout is yet, but I certainly have a lot to think about.

Free at Last!!

OK, they are letting me out of the hospital today even though my blood thinner level isn't where they want it. Trick is I have to give myself 2 subcutaneous injections a day until the level of the coumadin is where it should be, which should be within a day or two. I have to come for blood draws tomorrow, Sunday and Monday, and if all goes well, not again until next Friday. So I plan to head for Vegas Monday. As I have learned, plans can change but that doesn't mean you can't make them. This has been an interesting experience, but I am glad to see it winding down. Thank you all for your support and prayers.

Hospital Flowers

These beautiful flowers were sent by David's Mom (and siblings) to brighten my room. Latest word is that I will be here at least one more day, but the inflammation seems to be easing off and the blood thinners are working to prevent further clotting. The weather from the inside looking out is quite nice, and you can tell by all the posts that I am getting a little bored here by now. I appreciate all the calls and e mails; for being in the hospital it couldn't get much better.

Unexpected Detour

Well, we got up bright and early this morning to drive from Summit to Las Vegas and loaded up the car. I have had some pain in my leg just above the knee for a few days, and this morning it had turned red. We decided to stop in Cedar City at the emergency room since I had no reasonable expectation of being able to see a doctor in Las Vegas on short order. After a quick check by the on-call doctor and an ultrasound, I was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis--good news: not in a major vein. They admitted me and put me on heparin and Coumadin and I am stuck here until things improve; they are saying probably three days anyway. At least I have my laptop and internet access, but I am sure to be bored out of my mind before too long. On the bright side, they told me in the emergency room that they have had people drive to Cedar City from Las Vegas because it is faster to drive here, be seen, and drive back home than to wait in the Las Vegas hospital emergency rooms. And they are taking good care of me--I was diagnosed in an hour, which is amazing. So until further notice, I am holding court at the Cedar City hospital--not the way I expected to spend the week.

A little update

Once again, I have no pictures, but I just realized it has been many weeks since I posted. Our travel has been seriously affected by the price of gasoline. I haven't been to SLC for a few weeks now, and don't have a trip planned until the end of June/first of July for John Carter's wedding, etc. That's not to say I might slip up there before for an unplanned trip. This last weekend in Summit was kind of interesting. I organized the garage and stacked all the flooring (47 boxes) for our new downstairs floor on a pallet. The interesting part is that with an Aleve before I went to bed, I suffered almost no consequences to my back. Also of note, I started on Janie's purple blanket which I have been promising for months now. The outside tier of cross stitching is done, and once underway, it will surely be completed. I even found some dramatic purple trim to go around the perimeter. Before we left Thursday evening I managed to renew both my driver's license and my temple recommend, events without which I might have needed to stay in Vegas for the weekend. I look forward to a relatively uneventful summer and hope and pray we can sell our office building to lighten the worry load. So there you have my update, if anyone thinks to check it out after so long of nothing.