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!