Friday was my big day with my GP Doc to discuss moving forward with my injuries and treatment, etc. 1st topic was my blood test results from Thursday; my "INR" (a test to see how long it takes your blood to form a clot) readings are targeted to be between 2 and 3. My test results came back as a little over a 4... meaning that my blood is currently too thin to form a clot in a reasonable amount of time. It also means that I get bruises by even thinking about bumping something- I now have a slight black eye again on the left because I was rubbing my eye after getting something in it. Great! So with that news, we lowered my medication amount a lot (like I didn't take any for two days) and I'll be getting tested again soon. Oh yeah- and I'm supposed to keep an eye on any unusual bleeding... um... yeah.
2nd order of business was the whole orthopedic doctor nightmare. Once again, I was being told I should just go back to the original surgeon, but that would end up taking me longer to get treatment (ie removal of the pin in my thumb), so my Doc got me a referral that day to another ortho (who, as I later found out when I got home and tried to get an appointment, is leaving on vacation for 2 weeks). BUT... the ball is at least finally rolling. FINALLY. But it does sound like the other possible ortho option might work and I should be able to get the pin removed soon... hopefully.
Best news of all though; my Doc told me to just go buy a soft collar, rather than waiting for the approval to show up in the mail. So I did! Mom went out and got me a new soft neck collar and I am now no longer suffering with the hard plastic cervical collar that was giving me such terrible headaches from the the plastic in the back rubbing my head all day long. This also means that I can now legally drive again! And... I DID! Today, after my family get-together, I drove my sister's car home with her. I now have a slight headache from wearing the new collar all day today, but this is from the fact I haven't been using the muscles in my neck to support my head for the past 6 weeks. The muscles are sore, but they'll get better. And in another 2-3 weeks, I won't need a collar at all. YAY!
So now, I am hopefully just one appointment away from getting the pin in my thumb removed and having some more x-rays/ MRI's done on my knee and elbow. This might finally represent a great step towards moving forward with my life. Monday, when I return to the office, I'll actually be able to drive my own car. It's not like riding one of my many wonderful bikes, but it is one really huge step towards recovery... and I'm very excited.
Today was another fun day for me because it was the birthday for two of my nephews; my two sisters had their sons on the same day, just one year apart. Today Jack is 2 and Gianluca is 1. Masidaughter and I went off to my sister Sara's house for a great day by the pool- filled with sun, food and fun. With the past few weeks I've had- today was a welcome event.
Masidaughter in her birthday party dress...
Gianluca- 1yr old today.
Jackson- 2yrs old today.
Masidaughter- out of the pool just long enough to experience a birthday cake sugar high.
Happiness is a pool full of happy children!We had an excellent day today. The nephews were quite happy and the pool was always full of laughter... exactly the kind of day I needed.
Tim
