Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Deep Vein Thrombosis

I just got home from the doctor's office. Actually, today I went to the doctor's office....then he sent me directly to the hospital...and they sent me back. I have a DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) which is a blood clot.
So here is how we take care of it:
  • I am currently taking Coumadin (blood thinner) 1 mg everyday. This is now changed to 10 mg.
  • I will get a shot of Lovenox everday for the next three days or so. (Coumadin takes a couple of days to work, but Lovenox works immediately).
  • On Thursday I will get lab work done: they will take my Prothrombin Time. I think that measures how long it takes for my blood to clot.
You have to be careful when you are on major blood thinners - any bruise or cut and you run the risk of bleeding to death. The flip side of that is that if the blood clot breaks loose, it is highly likely to kill me.
YIKES!!!

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