A perk!

Today was flu shot clinic day at work. Being a superstitious person who has had the flu shot for the past 5 years, I couldn't miss up the opportunity to participate in the clinic. I called into my INR clinic last week and asked if I could participate. Since my INR had come back normal last week (2.8) the nurse said it would be just fine. She said I would have to pay attention to bleeding and bruising but otherwise there wouldn't be any risk involved.

As I prepared for my venture down to the clinic, I solicited for moral support from fellow department members. Turns out, I am the only one that was ready to go and plunge forth with the vaccine. One other person was going to her clinic later on in the week, but for the most part, the rest were opposite-superstitous into not doing the vaccine. I went down to the clinic only then during my elevator ride down, realizing I did not have the appropriate apparel for an arm shot on and got nervous about stripping in front of strangers. I waited in line for about a half hour and then realized they were "shooting" multiple people in the same room. Ugh, the thought of stripping in front of co-workers!

I walk into the room, tense with needle fear and sit down next to my assigned nurse. She asks about my blood clotting and quickly states "you qualify for the nasal vaccine." I looked at her with a deer in the headlights look. After completely absorbing what she had said I started asking questions. After some minimal kind assurances, I agreed to do it. She must not have wanted to take a chance shooting me with a needle and me squirting blood out at her. Not that that would happen, but it is fun to visualize. One quick squirt up each nostral and it was over. It didn't burn and it didn't ooze back out my nose. It was so painless I wanted more. I couldn't believe that something good for me would not hurt!

It has been 4 hours since the spray and I feel just fine, and even content! So if ever given the option, do the spray instead of the shot!! Because the spray is a live spray (meaning there are live cultures in the vaccine) you have to stay away from nursing homes, newborn babies and immunosuppressive people for a few days.

And there we have it, a perk for being an easy bleeder!

I blinked!

Long time no post. Summer is over and not much updated on my blog. Once again, I can say that no news is definitely good news. My INR was a little high at 3.0 last month when I went in, but that could have been because I had a Happy Hour the night before my 8:00 am blood draw. The nurses weren't too concerned and said they wanted to keep me on my current dosage of Coumadin. I went in last Friday for this month's check-up and the results were back to my normal level. My "normal" has been anywhere between 2.3 and 2.5. I am pretty happy that the Dr.s haven't had to do any tweaking to my dosages for about 7 months now.

This week marks my 10 month illness anniversary. Is there even such a thing as an illness anniversary? I feel 100% back to normal. I would err on the side saying that I have officially "assimilated" to the lifestyle of one who takes blood thinners and am feeling pretty good. I have to work more on the working out and being more active piece, but all in all I have gotten the hang of this new lifestyle.

Stress levels in my life have dropped ten-fold. It is amazing what lowering stress levels can do for the body and mind. I don't feel as crabby or rude anymore and have been able to "take my time" and be more patient with people. I like this thing about having low stress, but it probably won't last long. I recently changed jobs, after nearly five years of service at the last, and have been riding the learning curve for the past six weeks. It is fun learning a different industry and different type of service environment. At my current job, I deal with people more on the phone than in person. I first feared the thought of phone interaction with everything inside of me. Coming from a one-to-one hands-on environment, I was afraid I couldn't help people without actually looking at them. Boy, was I wrong! Dealing with people on the phone is so much easier! And I can hang up on them if they piss me off! Not that I ever would...

For the first time in my life I had to focus on my transition between health care insurances and providers. Never before did I need to care about health insurance or any gaps in coverage. With the help of my mentors I was guided in the right direction. I ended up taking out COBRA from the past job for $400 a month (not chump change for this kid) to cover my medical appointments and prescription for my insurance coverage waiting period from the new job. I have now entered my first month with the new health insurance and no COBRA coverage. So far, so good. What a pain to have to worry about pre-existing illnesses and whether I will be covered under insurance or not. When I called in to the insurance provider to ask if they would cover me, they asked what my disease or illness was. I paused, kind of confused, and answered "I don't have one." I stammered and stuttered and finally said I don't have an illness, I just need to get my INR checked every month. The rep on the other end of the line said it wasn't a problem to cover that since it is a requirement to stay alive. Freaky, but assuring all at the same time.

Graduation is near...December 16th is the official graduation date. My finals will be through Christmas, but then I will be done with this degree for good! I can't wait until January to have a rest and give attention to some much needed projects! I will probably start itching for something to do by mid-January and look for a part-time job (if I don't get one between now and then).

In other good news, my blog is achieving its purpose to inform and help others diagnosed with PEs. Hooray for blogs and a hello and happy health to Eric!

Lunch is drawing near now. Maybe with all my extra downtime I will blog more and keep my entries shorter. One could only hope!