Post-Op Day #34 - It's All About The Results

Well today I had my ACC appointment to check my INR --last time it was at 1.7 but I'm happy to report it went up to 2.3! YAHOO! Hopefully it will stabilize or rise over the weekend as I go on Monday morning for my next test.

They kept my Warfarin at 10mg till Monday so that will most likely get it to raise again ---after all I was on 10mg for 3 days and it raise my INR 6 points!


Unfortunately yesterday/last night I had some sharp pain in my leg in the clot sites so I have to go for an ultrasound at 3:45pm to check to make sure the clots aren't any bigger. With my INR dropping to 1.7 over the weekend that raises some concern because that is not in the therapeutic range for DVT treatment and I wasn't on Lovenox.

The potential for clotting is higher without the INR being 2.0 or higher and not being backed up by the Lovenox injections(Low Molecular weight Heparin) -- esp with the pain being there and it wasn't before except when I first knew something was wrong(the week of April 30th).

I'm not going to get worked up over it, I'll go see what they find with the ultrasound today and deal with it. I'm hoping I don't have to go on the Lovenox again!!

I'll come back later and let you know what they find.

Updated: Ok so I had the ultrasound and they found no new clots so that is a relief! PHEW! The lady said it actually looked like there was more movement in the blocked areas so that is good too!

I'm supposed to call them if I feel any more pain but other then that things look good. I could have been the driving that made my leg get sore and have light spasms/cramps. Anyways, not going to be driving for a bit.


Thanks for checking up on me

Post-Op Day #28 - Bye Bye Injections!

Today is May 8th so that means it's been exactly a MONTH since surgery -- wow time flies!


This morning I took my Lovenox before heading to my INR testing appointment at 8:45am in Bellevue.

I'm happy to report that my INR reached 2.0 WOOHOO, so I can stop the injections after tonight. hehe!
I have to take 7.5mg of Warfarin over the weekend and go Monday for testing to see if the INR is stabilized at 2.0 or hopefully a bit higher. I'm so relieved I'm at 2.0, 16 injections is enough for me -- my stomach is very happy, no more pin cushion treatment. haha!

This afternoon I had an appointment with my GP and we discussed birth control options as I had to stop my regular BC pills due to the estrogen in them.
I have a few options, get an IUD which will last for 5years or try a progestin only pill -- for right now I'm going to try the pill and see how that goes.

After my appointment I took the wee-chair out for a short roll to the store and back, the fresh air felt soooooooooooooooo good! It was actually NICE OUT! YAY!


My foot felt pretty good today, it was a bit puffy from too much walking around the grocery store yesterday. Plus I accidentally caught my KAM boot on the back of Adams heel(opps, poor Adam) and that jarred my foot really good!YOUUUUUUUUUCH!


I've noticed some muscle spasms in my foot, it doesn't happen that often, usually when I'm laying down in bed. LOL
My foot kind of jumps or the foot tries to bend at the ball of the foot which feels really odd. There's still odd sensations (tingling/numbness/mini shocks) throughout the foot since surgery, the nerves are still trying to figure out what to do.
I love how much I can move my toes, it's so nice to be able to exercise them a tiny bit --lifting them up and down to help the circulation.

I've also noticed that my leg from the knee down is looking very slack haha, oh the muscle tone is withering away on me. Oh well, I'll deal with "ol lady" leg for a bit, once I can walk it'll come back. HA HA!

Well that's it for today, I'm very pleased about the INR test today, I just hope it stays above 2!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #27 - Follow Up Ultrasound

Today I had my follow up ultrasound and it showed the clot was the same size so that is good. They were checking to make sure it hadn't gotten any bigger since I was there last week.

I go back in 3 weeks for another one, they said that we might see a decrease in size but hard to say.

My foot feels pretty good, it still gets swollen/purple if I don't elevate it enough but I've noticed I can keep it down for longer periods of time. My toes move awesome, I can even move the ball of my foot a bit now. :-) Very good news, I think I'll be able to bear more weight over the next week or so --it'd be great if I could almost walk with my KAM boot by the time I go back to Dr. Chi on May 21st.

I took my Lovenox at 7pm and in a few minutes I'll take my 7.5mg of Warfarin. I have to do tomorrow mornings injection then go to the ACC in Bellevue for INR testing.

Guess we'll see what tomorrows results are.................fingers and toes crossed we're up to 2.0 INR!

I'm hoping to see if I can drive soon, now that I have more strength, less tenderness in the ankle it might be possible. Don't worry I won't push it, it's not worth getting my ankle aggravated.

I took some new pictures of my stomach........haha, 14 injection sites and almost all of them have bruising. haha!

Thanks for checking in on me :-)

Post-Op Day #26 - ACC Appointment

Well today was my appointment at the Anti-coagulation Clinic (ACC) at 2:50pm in Bellevue.

It went well, the lady went over the information about the drugs I was on(Lovenox/Warfarin) and what exactly the ACC will do for me.

During the visit I had to get my finger pricked so she could see what my INR(International Normalized Ratio) was at -- normal INR(clotting time basically) is about 1.
Some info on INR - http://www.clotcare.com/clotcare/ptinr.aspx

After 6 days of Lovenox and Warfarin my INR is 1.5 and the ideal range(therapeutic to deal with my DVT) is between 2.0 - 3.0, maybe slightly higher depending on my body.

I was hoping she'd tell me I could stop the Lovenox injections but nope I have to continue them until my next appointment on Friday.

She wants me to up my Warfarin for the next 2 days....so take 10mg(2 - 5mg pills) tonight and tomorrow take 7.5mg(1.5 - 5mg pills) hoping that will get my INR range up for Fridays test.

Fingers crossed I'll be off the Lovenox after Friday and they can figure out how much Warfarin I need for the initial 3month treatment period.

I'll have to go back once or twice a week for INR testing to make sure it stays in the approperiate range. What a pain in the butt! Oh well, what can I do about it.

Anyways, tomorrow I have my ultrasound to check the DVT and make sure it's not any bigger..........fingers crossed it's a bit smaller! :-)

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #25 - Precious Time

Well yesterday started off on a bumpy start with my Lovenox shot. I woke up around 6am and that was too early for my shot so I just laid in bed and fell back asleep..........grrrr and woke up at 10:30AM!
I totally freaked out because I had missed my 7am injection time.
I quickly called the Vascular specialist and they said to take it asap then bump my evening one back to 8pm(instead of 7). Ugh, totally sucked to start the day off so crappy! Not going to be doing that again!

I was tired most of the day so just laid around with the foot up......booooooooooring!

We went out for a bit to pick up some more injections because I was down to the last one -- we just bought one days worth because I wasn't sure if the people at the anti-coagulation clinic would tell me I could stop them --- buy pay $136 for 10 shots if I don't need them all!

I did my second shot at 8pm and took the warfarin too.

We'll see what the ACC people say at my appointment.

Post-Op Day #25 - Changes

Well today my foot felt pretty good, I can really wiggle my toes good now! :-) I try to move them as much as possible to help the blood circulation plus it feels great to have them moving more.

The skin on the bottom of my big toe and ball of my foot started to peel big time......grooooooosss! Im going to have to soak it again and get the pomace out.

The weather sucked today, major wind and rain so I stayed inside for most of the day --- I went out once in the wee-chair to get Adam some half & half for his coffee -- I lost my hat three times in the wind haha, now that was amusing trying to roll the wee-chair after it. Thank goodness the hat stayed on the sidewalk!


I was able to change my anticoagulation clinic appointment from Friday to Wednesday so that is good. Crappy part is I still have to get more injections, atleast one days worth. Stupid things are expensive....the Rx's cost $426 for 5days worth(10 injections), we have Rx insurance plan so we pay $126 out of pocket, still more then I like! All these things add up.....ugh, oh yes like we need more things to paying for --- I WISH MONEY GREW ON TREES! ROFLMAO!


Other changes, Adam has decided to stay home and postpone his trip to Fresno. I feel bad because he will miss his Grandma Keith's funeral but right now, its important to have him here ---too much medical stuff going on plus I worry about emergency situations with this DVT, esp in the first week or so. I'm sure everything will be fine but still its peace of mind having him home plus it will be good to have him at my appointments(2nd set of ears is always good!).

Anyways, thats about it for today
Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #24 - Simple Pleasures

Yesterday was pretty low key but then again it was Sunday! It was a day of simple pleasures.........time outside, visiting friends, seeing horses, eating great food and spending time with my favorite person in the world, ADAM! :-)

Woke up at 7am to inject myself with the Lovenox! I'm a pro, only a few more days to go -- phew, my poor stomach is so bruised up! HA HA!

We started off the day with a nice walk around the block, the weather was perfect -- a nice cool breeze with a bit of sunshine.

My ankle was feeling good, I can really move my toes now and I don't get as much swelling or poor circulation(aka Purple foot LOL)! YAY! I think the Lovenox and Warfarin are working!

After our walk we went to the ranch to visit Helene, she was riding Godiva(a stunning black Rocky Mountain mare) plus we talked to her about this week ---Adam was supposed to go to Fresno for 5 days and she was going to give him a ride to the airport and help me out with some appointments.

We decided to get some lunch so we drove to Issaquah but first went to the highland so Adam could get a cup of coffee at Caffe Ladre. We sat out in the sunshine for a bit, it was grrrrrrreat but then some clouds came and it got really cool.

It was time for lunch at Chipotle MMMMMMMMM- a nice yummy burrito bowl. Ok, so I must explain what is in one for the people who've never been there, had one. Here are the layers of yummy ingredients :-)
A layer of Cilantro rice
some black beans
grilled Peppers and onions(grilled to perfection LOL)
then comes the meat -- we get one side of the bowl with diced grilled chicken( thats my side! its so darn good) and the other side with barbacoa(Adam loves the yummy seasoned shredded beef)
a scoop of fresh chopped tomato, onion and herbs(basically Pico de Gallo)
a scoop of green tomatillo(a nice zippy green salsa)
a tiny bit of sour cream
a tiny bit of shredded cheese
and a nice big scoop of guacamole --- oh ya, they make the best *drools* haha!

then to complete the meal we get a bag of tortilla chips(made fresh daily)
a small soda to share and a cup for water

This bowl is pretty skookum(the bowl is about 8-9" long, 4.5" wide and by the time all the ingredients are pilled into it, its about 3-4inches deep! HA HA!
Adam and I share it, there's no way I can eat one by myself. haha! Even half of it really fills you up!

Ok, enough about the food, its making me hungry! ROFLMAO!

After lunch we got the car washed because it was time to do that.......i was totally useless, I normally do the vacumming but with the crutches etc... its an accident waiting to happen!

We came back home and chilled out for a bit before going for another walk around the block -- we couldn't pass on the chance to get some more of the wonderful fresh air.

As we were coming back towards home we stopped in front of the Irish Pub(Finaughtys) and Adam saw a few guys he knew. I asked Adam if HE wanted a beer(Im not stupid, I wouldnt drink while on these blood thinners) and he said sure, so we hung out there for about an hour -- I had a coke(while wishing there was some rum in it HA HA).
It was fun to hang out, chit chat with the people and check out the bar -- I've been in before, twice I think for dinner with Adam.

We finished up and head home to watch a movie and call it a night. Plus by this time I needed to put my foot up for a bit, take my last dose of Neurontin before bed.

Thanks for checking my blog

Post-Op Day #23 - Bruises

Well I did both the injections yesterday no problem and the one this morning went a little different. I think I was sitting at a bad angle or something when I did it this morning because only half the Lovenox wanted to come out of the syringe at first so I had to lift it up a tiny bit and push the rest out.

It didn't hurt anymore then the last 3 but it sure bruised more- --I think that is from when I lifted the syringe and some of the Lovenox got into the skin closer to the surface. I did it 7am(normal time) and its 4:43 and the bruising hasn't gotten any worse so I'm assuming things are good. I'll have to make sure to do it better at 7PM!

I'll add a picture of the bruise LOL

The foot feels not too bad today, been elevating it and had a brief ride in the wee-chair to get some sunshine before it goes away.


The Vascular clinic called this morning to check up on me, make sure everything was going ok and to make sure I stopped taking my BC pills as they can lead to clotting which I don't need any more risks to have further clotting issues. I'll have to talk to the GP about alternatives as we do not want kids LOL

That's about it for now unless something interesting/exciting happens before bed time.

Thanks for checking up on me

Post-Op Day #22 - Clot Busting

Well I managed to do both shots today with no problem and they didn't burn as much! WOOHOO!

I spent most of the day laying in bed with my leg up -- it felt pretty much the same as yesterday, still gets purple if I have it down for too long but on the upside my calf had no pain and it seemed like I could move my toes better.

I think the Lovenox(which is a type of heparin) is starting to do its thing in my blood...hmm maybe clot busting! LOL

I got out of the house once, that was to go for a quick roll in the wee-chair over to the grocery store for a few things. The weather was awesome, it felt great to get some fresh air.

I think if the weather is good tomorrow I'll try to lounge out on the patio for a bit. I'd also like to make a quick visit to the ranch to see who's there but we'll see how I'm feeling.

I need to be careful not to overdo it, esp while my body is getting used to the blood thinners -- so far so good.

Anyways, time to watch a movie or something.


Thanks for checking up on me