A few changes...

Dad, Laura & Mom in Santa Barbara, June 2010

This morning Dad had an appointment with his Internist, Dr. Riddle, and he gave us some great information on Pulmonary Emboli, blood thinners and the circulatory system in general. He is very knowledgeable and was willing to answer our questions.

He taught me some things that I didn't know. One is that Heparin is an organic acid that is found mostly in lung and liver tissues and occurs naturally in the body to prevents blood clots. (Heparin is also made synthetically and can be given as a treatment when required.) Another interesting thing he taught me is that only veins have clots in them and arteries never do. Also, the lung acts as a sieve... it screens the blood and doesn't pass clots out into the arteries (and here I thought I knew everything! Haha!)

Dr. Riddle has changed Dad's course of treatment and I (we) feel very comfortable with it and that Dad is in capable hands. He told us that it takes several days for a person's blood to respond to Warfarin (the generic of Coumadin), so the daily blood draw was really unnecessary. Dad is supposed to take 2.5 mg of Warfarin every other day (because he is highly sensitive to blood thinners) and then have his blood tested (for his PT/INR) on Monday morning. After getting those results, Dr. Riddle will take it from there to determine his Warfarin dose and next blood draw.

As far as the Lovenox injections, we are to continue giving them to him through Sunday night. It makes me feel good to know that he will be receiving that blood thinner.

Once Dad has become therapeutic on his Warfarin, Dr. Riddle is planning to switch him to an anti-coagulant called Pradaxa. This medication has been used for about 4 years, so it is fairly new and I'm yet to be convinced that it's the best form of treatment for him, given his age and the fact that he was in Atrial Fibrillation when he entered the ER on Sunday night. I've got to put my stethoscope on and do some research on this!

The only other possible change is that Mom and Dad might need to delay their move to Minnesota a few more weeks until Dad is completely stable and settled in with his course of treatment. There are far worse things that could happen and fortunately, everyone involved in the move, including the Moving company, the Estate Sales company, their Realtor, my brother, Ken and I have a lot of flexibility and are able to change our plans
accordingly.

Thank you once again for your prayers and words of concern and encouragement. We have much to be thankful for!

Love, Laura