Post-Op Days 125 -131 - Weekly Update for Aug 17 - 23

Day 125- Monday Aug 17 - Physio @11:30, it went really good, my ankle felt good afterward. I had to go check on the cats before heading to North Bend to do a few things. I went to the ranch later on around 4pm and worked with Nikon in the round pen then took him to the ring and rode him for about 15mins, he was awesome. I even rode him out of the ring down the pathway and back.
Helene came around 6pm and we rode together, though I finished up with Nikon and got on Karma so I could do some ring work then do the waterfall trail.

I came home and relaxed before calling my mom on the phone as she was released from the hospital tonight. My aunt came down to stay overnight with her so that is good


Day 126 - Tuesday Aug 18- went to the ranch and had a great ride up the hill on Mercury. I went with Julie and Toah, a trainer from Arizona. after the hill ride we spent some time doing lateral work in the round pen and that was fun but tiring. haha!


Day 127 - Wednesday Aug 19 - went to physio and it was tiring but good. After I went to the ranch to help out with the vet etc... , busy day at the ranch!!

Day 128 - Thursday Aug 20 - went to the ranch and went riding with Julie and Toah again, we had a lot of fun riding the waterfall trail. We took a break after that and then went riding again but over to the RIVER~ YAHOO~ Now that was awesome, we had a great time riding through the trail and then into the river. Karma was a bit silly on the way over but once in the water she was a super star. We were all tired after all that riding and called it a day. haha! My ankle did pretty good considering how much riding I did. :-)


Day 129 - Friday Aug 21 - I woke up early and head down to the ranch so I could go over to the river again with Toah. We explored all sorts of trails, went over big longs, up and down steep hills and finally found the access to the sandy part of the river. We cantered through the sand, went into the water for a bit then head back to the ranch as he didn't have that much time to ride. Phew, I was ready to crash n burn! haha!
Though later on I got a text from Helene saying she could come out around 6pm so I said OK....haha, I left the ranch for a little bit then went back and did some round pen work with Nikon before Helene came to ride Mercury. I hopped on Karma again and we did the waterfall trail plus some toodling around the property.
boy I was beeeeeeeeeeat! oh well, went home and chilled out for the rest of the evening. haha!

Day 130 - Saturday Aug 22 - I went down in the morning to ride with Julie and Pepper(ranch owner), we had a nice ride through the waterfall trail and the perimeter trail. Then I helped Julie in the ring for a bit.
I had to leave around 12:30 because I needed to go let out some dogs for a client--actually was staying the night as well.
Adam & I went to Bellevue for a bit then head to Issaquah for dinner. I was falling asleep around 7pm haha!
I was happy that my ankle felt so good considering my busy week of walking and riding.

Day 131 - Sunday Aug 23 - Adam and I just hung out and relaxed. The week really made me tired plus dog sitting overnight takes its toll as I don't sleep good at that house. haha!
the weather was nice and so we enjoyed some time outside.

Post Op Days # 105 - 111 - Weekly Blog Updates

Ok so now that we're starting to trickle out of the craziness of multiple Dr's appointments etc... and I'm finding it harder to remember to do this daily --I've decided to do weekly updates in one post. If I happen to remember to update it daily, it will be in the weekly post so you can just check back throughout the week.

#105 - Monday I had physio and it was hard plus the fact the weather has gotten insanely HOT -- mid - high 90's and supposed to break over the 100F mark during the week. YUK!!!!!!!!!! That is too darn hot for this neck of the woods. ha ha! Chris added some new things to the routine so that was good but they sure make me work hard and sweeeeeeeeeat!
I had to go to Issaquah to pick up a key for a sitting job that I start this week --- YAY!
Hung out in the house for most of the day, though I did swing by the barn for a bit.
Took my 7.5mg of warfarin @ 8pm
I head over to the gym in the main building so I could watch the Bachelorette finale! HA HA! I barely pedalled the bike because I didn't want to overdo it since my physio was so tiring and the damn heat was making me sweat bullets. oh such an entertainig show! ROFLMAO

#106 - Tuesday I had a dentist appointment @ 11am --- teeth cleaning and of course they found a tiny cavity and a stupid CRACK in one of my molars..........ohhhhhhhhhhh no! So ya, I have 2 appointments next week to deal with those issues! Grrrrrr!!!!
I stopped by the ranch to see who was out there and it was a ghost town because the temperature had shot up to 98F! But I decided to give Karma a bath.......hehe, now that felt good for her and I! I spent about 2hrs there(thank goodness for the fans in the barn, otherwise I wouldnt have lasted very long) then head home.
Just hung out in the house for the remainder of the day to stay cool and sane! LOL
Took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm

#107 - Wednesday I had physio @ 11:30am --oh man it was hot out, we're talking up to 102F! Definitely short and tank top weather, otherwise my clothes were soaked in sweat from doing nothing. EW! Physio felt like torture because of the heat, even though the building has A/C my body wasn't happy and felt pretty stiff actually so we addressed that with a fair amount of massage etc... ah yes, that FELT goooooooooooood!
After that I drove to the barn and hosed off Mercury and Nikon because they needed it to cool down a bit. Poor horses were soaked in sweat from the heat!
I came home and hide in the house...........ugh, too hot out
Took my 7.5mg of warfarin @ 8pm


#108 - Thursday(Today) I had an appointment with Dr Chi at 11:30am --- that went well, he's happy with my progress and will see how things are in 6 weeks from now. He said I could ride but to not over do it!!!! I mentioned a few nerve sensations in my foot so we'll keep an eye on that as I worry we may have long term issues with pain. :-(

After that I head home for a bit before having my ultrasound at 3:45pm --- that went good, the clots have broken right now to hardly anything, just some small residual blood that has hardened along the wall of the vessels. The lady wanted me to make an appointment to see the vascular specialist about going off the warfarin! YAHOOOOOOO! I'll still have to do the blood tests in a week or so to see if I have any of the blood clotting disorders but if those are negative I'm warfarin FREE! YAY! oh that would be so nice! haha! Anyways I'll let you know how that goes tomorrrow.

I had to stop in and start my cat sitting job in Issaquah -- cats name is JB and he's super cute. I fed and filled up his water, cleaned his litter box, played with him for a few minutes then did the house plant and outside plant watering. Oh those poor plants are having a hard time with this heat. I gave them a good drink but no doubt tomorrow they'll need it again!

I decided to go down to the barn after that and gave Karma a groom then hopped on for a few minutes. Ugh ,it was soooooo hot out, like 102F! I had to hose her and myself off after that, we didn't do anything but sweat doing nothing. HA HA HA!
I left there and came home to get the heck out of the heat and shower!
Took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm.


#109 - Friday I went down to the ranch to go riding with Helene, we had a great ride --well minus Karma sinking in the water and going down on her knees. THank goodness that horse has such a great mind and doesn't panic! We sat there for a minute then I was able to rock her back out of the water and up on all 4's! HA HA! Wow, talk about bizarre! We tried again and made it through with no problem so that was great.
We finished up our ride and hung out for a bit with Julie.

I had an appointment with the vascular specialist at 2:45pm in Bellevue so I went to that and the Dr said I was fine to go OFF THE WARFARIN! YAHOOO!

I head back towards home but stopped off to do JB before coming home to relax as all the driving in Friday traffic is not my idea of fun! HA HA!

It felt really weird not having to take my warfarin @ 8pm! haha!


#110- Saturday we didn't do too much just relaxed and stayed out of the heat ---though the weather had cooled a bit, it's still too hot for my liking.
I stopped over in the afternoon to do JB and then we had a bite to eat in town.


#111 - Sunday(yesterday) I was supposed to meet up with Helene and Julie for a ride but missed them and so I ended up riding around the ranch with Pepper(the owner). We had a nice ride around the perimeter trail then did the waterfall trail(Karma was fine, no sinking LOL) and then we head up the access trail to where it opens up to all the old logging roads. We turned around and came back because I didn't want to ride too long as that was the longest I had been on horse for over 3months.

I came back and did the perimeter trail one more time to cool Karma out as she got sweaty from the climb up the access trail. I hosed her off, groomed her then put her away.

I decided to do some ground work with Nikon, a 2yr old Rocky Mountain gelding that Pepper owns. He's a lot of fun but still learning how to be a horse and respect humans so we spent time doing that. He was being so good I decided that Sunday would be the day I RODE HIM! haha! I was wearing my helmet of course, I got him to stand next to the mounting block so I could lean over him to see how he'd react(we'd done that before). He was fine so I swung my leg over and sat on him bareback and he could careless.
I decided to kick it up a notch and see if I could make him walk around the ring a bit with me on his back and YUP we did it! What a good boy, it was so much fun. He wasn't too sure about why I was squeezing his sides to make him walk but he didn't fuss, more like he didn't get IT! HA HA! we made our way around the ring without any problem so I was really happy about that. I was almost done when I heard the ladies coming back from their ride and so I waited so they could see me on Nikon. Julie was thrilled to see me on him and Helene rode Mercury into the ring to toodle around with us for a minute. Then I said "HEY you want to ride down the pathway to the Llama's and back?" haha, so I did it, I rode Nikon all the way down to the Llama's and back bareback with the halter and he was soooooooooooo good!

I was really impressed that he was so cool and calm about everything so we'll work on some more ground work and I'll keep sitting on him a bit so he knows that's what happens.

ANyways, we groomed the horses then put them back out in the field before heading home for the day.

I was tired but nothing too bad so I was happy about that. It's easy to forget and overdo things but I can't risk it with my ankle so have to do little bit everytime.

It's just nice to be able to work with the horses again, esp with the approval of the ankle and vascular specialist.

I went home, Adam and I head out to meet up with his friend John in Issaquah plus I had to stop in and check on JB so I did that while Adam stayed at the coffee shop.

Post-Op Day # 47 - Four Week Ultrasound

Well the foot feels pretty good again today, it was a tiny bit tender this morning but that worked itself out so that was nice.

This afternoon I had my 4 week ultrasound and they said the clot has reduced a fair amount in size, esp on the one side. Its pretty cool how you can see the blood moving in the veins on the machine. The guy showed me the one vein that is clotted up pretty good still but you could see a tiny bit of blood getting through -- YAY!

He said by the time I go back, I should be much more mobile and that will help the clot breakdown quicker as there will be a better blood supply.

I go back in 2months for the 3months follow-up so that is good.........unless I have any weird cramping in my calf or anywhere else before that time(KNOCK ON WOOD!).


Its pretty darn warm out today so I'm seeking refuge in the house where its nice and cool with the fans going. I may go out later for a ride around the block in the wee-chair.

We might go to a movie tonight but not sure, depends on what Adam wants to do.

I have to take 10mg of Warfarin tonight

Well that's about it, Im happy with the results from today --phew, we're slowly making process! :-)

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 46 - Test Drive

Well this morning I decided I was DRIVE MYSELF TO MY INR testing! :-) I did good, ofcourse it was so busy with traffic at 8:25 when I left the house! Oh well, I had no problem getting from our place to Issaquah!

My INR was at 2.2 so not too bad but would be better if a bit higher so the lady put me back on 10mgs 3 days and 7.5mg for 4 -- she figures the driving and better mobility are making the INR drop a bit so we'll see how it is next Thursday.

The driving is giving the foot a nice work out, I try to go the easiest routes possible so I have less clutching to do! haha! After driving the past 3 days in a row my foot is good, not much swelling(thanks ol lady compression stocking LOL) and hardly any discomfort. It's really good for my calf muscle to get some work so driving is actually a good thing for my left foot.

I still can't put all my weight evenly on my foot if Im standing up(with crutches for back up) --my body keeps leaning to the right!GRRRRRRRRRR! Oh well, I think its a combo of my foot being super sensitive on the bottom and my brain keeps saying "Its not going to work, don't lean all the way" haha!

I'm gonna work on it, I'd love to be able to walk without my crutches in 3 weeks or less but I'll take it at the speed Im comfortable. Life will be so much nicer without my stupid crutches, all I want is for them to go in the closet or garage and COLLECT DUST FOREVER! HA HA!


I just hung out around the house today, I was tired from the morning but a good tired so I had a nap to recharge! Oooooooooo I love naps! :-) haha!


I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin and am heading outside for a bit with Adam -- we may do the block as I haven't been out in the wee-chair for a while and it's a lovely evening for it! :-)


Tomorrow is the ultrasound at 2:45pm so I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow


Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #40 - Sock It To Me

Well this morning my friend Helene was nice enough to take me to my ACC appointment and my INR was 3.4 -- on the high side so tonight I don't take my Warfarin and continue as normal tomorrow.
The nurse figures it was the progestin pills that made it high because it takes a bit for the system to get used to it. Hopefully by the time next Thursday comes it will be around 2.9-3.0. I have to keep an eye on bruising, any nose bleeds etc... if that happens, let them know asap!

After that we decided to go to the local feed/tack store -- hehe, fun lookng at all the goodies. We both bought a couple small items before heading out so she could show me her adorable farm house. We made a quick pit stop to a coffee shack(lol drive thru) and got a yummy Chai Latte --best one Ive tasted!

We went to her house for a little while and it was very nice and ofcourse we let the dogs out for a potty break. haha!

After chit chatting for a bit it was time to go so I can get to my ankle specialist appointment at 11:45am.

My appointment went well, Dr Chi thought the incision looked great and removed the last 2 steri strips(tape) from the lower part. I think it looks pretty darn good, I'll take some pictures and post them.
We talked about the DVT's and he even showed me the printouts that he got from Washington Vascular -- it was so cool, it showed grey shaded area on the places it was clotted.
There were 2 printouts, one from the inital ultrasound and the follow up one which showed a SMALLER CLOTTED AREA! YAY!

We spoke about recovery time, possible physio therapy(we'll see how it is in 4wks), getting more movement in the foot when its comfortable to do with/without the KAM walking boot and about wearing a compression stocking.
I told him I had a Rx for one but hadn't got it yet due to the ankle still being a bit tender.
He thought I was ok to get one and they had them at his office so I got fitted for one! YUK, I HATE IT! HA HA!
I call it the Ol Lady Stocking! HA HA! I guess I should be relieved that it's white and not ugly beige or black. hehe!
I have to wear it as much as possible because it will help with swelling and circulation as well so that is good.
It felt so bizarre to pull it one, my poor foot hasn't had anything tight on it since the morning of surgery.
It feels SOOOOOO TIGHT right now but I think once my foot swelling goes down a bit it won't feel so weird.
I asked about getting back to regular activities and how long that would be, esp RIDING --- I said 6 weeks and he thought possibly, could be less or more, just depends on how my ankle heals and how quickly the clots dissolve. Fingers crossed I could be riding by July, though that seems like FOREVER for me. Oh well, I'm not willing to risk it, I will ride when I'm 100% ready to.

Anyways, I go back to see him in 4 weeks unless I have any pain issues in my ankle/foot. Any other issues related to the clots I contact the vascular specialist/ACC.


Next week I have my one month ultrasound so fingers crossed it shows the clots are even smaller then last time. :-)

I'm just hanging out in the house, though the weather is amazing today but my foot needs to rest up a bit. It's adjusting to having the compression hose on it.

Thanks for checking the blog

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 #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 # 21 - Dr's Appointment X 2 or make that 3!

This morning I had my appointment with Dr Chi to see what he thought about the calf cramp/pain and just to ask a few questions(circulation? how much elevation should I be needing?).


He said it could be a couple things ----could very well be the nerves in my lower leg are all "angry" from surgery and are trying to sort themselves out during the healing process.

OR, it could be a clot.

So to be safe I have an appointment at 4:30Pm for an ultrasound on the left leg to see if there are any clots. If there is clotting then the next step of treatment would be to start taking blood thinners(eg; warfarin).

Anyways fingers crossed, its nothing at all but the nerves trying to heal.

Today my ankle feels good but again, the calf feels tight/sore and the circulation in my foot isnt good. BLA!

Adam took me for a nice walk around the block this morning, the weather is GORGEOUS! ah yes, could it be SPRING?!

I'll come back later to let you know how the DVT ultrasound goes.


OK -- UPDATE as of 10pm
well I swear I just cant get a break, I had a bad feeling about it but yes, there is a fairly big clot in my left calf and now I'm on a course of blood thinners.

We had to drive to the Overlake Hospital in Bellevue(we were Issaquah for the ultrasound) for the consultation(vascular specialist) in regards to the blood thinners, getting the prescriptions etc..

Its so scary to think about all of this

the worst part(for today LOL) was that I'm going to have to give myself injections(Lovenox) for 5 days and I'm a total NEEDLE WUSS!
I thought she was joking at first but nope, she was serious and boy, my tummy started to do flip flops just thinking about it.

I had to give myself an injection while I was there so she knew I could do it ---ugh! I DID IT, I couldn't believe I did it!
I did like she said, pinch some skin(in the belly), wipe it with an alcohol swab, let go, take the safety cap off the syringe then grab the spot that I disinfected and POKE the needle in like a dart!
Then you have to push the plunger all the way down till its empty, pull it out and push it hard so the safety cap pops up. OMG, what an ordeal for me but I was proud of myself for doing it and NOT getting QUEEZY OR PASSING OUT! WOOHOO!

Its Sub-Q but still, it burns so bad, felt like a huge bee sting and you can't touch it the area afterward -- no rubbing to make the pain go away!
I have to alternate which side I poke(morning and night) till I'm done.
I have a nice bruise coming too, she said that would happen. Im going to look like a drug addict! ROFLMAO

The stuff is call Lovenox, 60mgs, I guess its quick to get into your system, that way my body has something to help thin out the blood asap. I'm also on Warfarin 5mg once a day.

this coming week I have to go for a bunch of tests(anticoagulant levels or something) till they know how much I need. Next week I have another ultrasound to see if there's any change in the clot after a weeks worth of the thinners.

there will be lots of follow up appointments and more ultrasounds in a month, then 3months etc...

I had been doing some research on the calf aches/cramps post-op and read about clots, of course I PRAYED that I didn't have them but not such the case.

Thats why I was so concerned and went to the Dr Asap....
Anyways, I'm hoping I will be OK, I will be on this stuff for at least 3-6 months, maybe more depending on what happens with the clot and how my blood is -- they're going to do some other blood work so we can prevent any other clots!!

Wow, I'm exhausted, it was a long day and it's time for bed.

I'm adding a couple pictures of my injection site(bruising) and what the syringes look like. LOL

Thanks for checking up on me