Has it really been 6 months already?

Yesterday was the 6 month anniversary of my pulmonary embolism.  I can't believe it has gone by so quickly. 

I have an appointment on the 21st to have a new CT scan and doppler/ultrasound of my legs to see if the clots are completely gone.  On the 23rd I go back to find out if I can put all of this behind me.  I am still seeing several Doctors, and having my blood clotting level taken every two weeks or so.  Right now I feel pretty darn good, but I still get tired easily.  That could be because I am not in shape as much as anything left over from my illness.  I really REALLY want to stop wearing the anti embolism stockings!  Those suckers are tough to get on and off.

I have started working out some and registered myself to walk a half marathon on May 8th in Kirkland WA.  Just the right incentive to get myself in fit shape.  I walked 8 miles a few weeks ago, so this 13.1 miles should be no problem.  Running the half may have to wait until late summer or until I feel like my knee can really take the pounding.  I will not have any more surgery...so if something breaks I will have to live with it.

I hope to be writing more regularly now that things are progressing so nicely...so stayed tuned...

It's official...

I have sleep apnea.  I have now gone to the second overnight sleep study - which is where they have you wear the CPAP machine so they can fit the mask and determine the proper air pressure.  I had no trouble with the mask, but my stupid chronograph watch alarm started going off about 1:30 AM and continued about every 10 minutes.  I would just get to sleep and then beep beep beep.  I would turn it off and then it would beep beep beep again.  Finally the voice in the ceiling told me to take the watch off and she would come take it away from me.  How embarrassing.  Of course sleeping after that was even more difficult. 

Now I am just waiting for my Doc to call in the prescription to a company that supplies durable medical goods and I can get started being a "hose head".  I don't care - I just want to feel better and have more energy.  That will help me get back on a good exercise schedule too. 

Stay tuned for more exciting details...

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun....

Didn't realize just how long it had been since I posted here.  A lot has happened and all for the good! 

The clots are gone from my lungs with very little left in one leg, the right side of my heart is back to normal, my lungs are back to normal per my pulmonary function tests, and I am exercising.  I walked 4 miles yesterday...which is 3 times as far in the same amount of time as when I started after the embolism.  Yay Me!  When I can't walk I ride my bike indoors so I don't miss any time.

I am now taking steps to determine if my sleep apnea is causing me to still be lethargic, exhausted, and headachey all the time.  I went thru an overnight sleep study last Wednesday night, and will get the results on the 16th.  I am hoping they have found something specific that can be corrected.  I would like to know what it feels like to wake up refreshed - haven't had that in my whole life.   From what other people have told me using a CPAP machine can make a huge difference in your life - and that is what I am really hoping for now.  I will try to post more often as I recover and get back to real training.

Check out this pic of me all wired up for the sleep study.



How's this for a scary photo?



Aint that a kick in the head...

What a week so far!  Monday morning I ended up in the ER with symptoms like those I had before the pulmonary embolism.  They ran a bunch of tests...CT, EKG, Doppler of my legs, blood, etc.  All came out great - which is wonderful news, but we still don't know why I am having the shortness of breath, and extreme lethargy.  I went to my cardiologist on Tuesday and they ran an echo...which also came out really great.  Now what?  I will see a pulmonary specialist on Oct 18th and see what, if anything, they can find.  Maybe I was still feeling the effects of my head cold, or I became anxious because I was having the breathing issues and that made it worse?  Not sure, but below are my results...

CT = no more blood clots in my lungs
EKG = normal
Doppler of legs = only very small clots that present no threat
INR = 2.9
Echo = heart is back to normal.  Cardiologist said if he had not seen my first echo he would not be able to tell I had a pulmonary embolism!  Yay for me!

My INR had dropped quite a bit when I was checked at the anti-coagulation clinic yesterday - down to 1.9.  Need to get that back into the therapeutic range of 2.0 to 3.0.

Feeling better today - just having some allergies going on with a headache.  I can live with that.

Going backward a little this week...

The last few days my breathing has been more difficult again and I am coughing a lot more.  I will be taking it easy and hopefully this will get better in a few days.  I have an appointment at the anti-coagulation clinic on Wednesday, so I will be sure to ask them about it.  They did tell me I would have ups and downs, so I just need to go with it and try not to over do anything.

I am going to our local race meet in Roy WA tomorrow in order to see Anneke run the oval...but all I will be doing is sitting and watching.  I won't be able to help anybody with their dogs.  I know everyone will help me stay on the straight and narrow!  I have some great friends in the racing community and I appreciate all their help and concern.

Still waiting until I get the results of my upcoming echo before I can really do much more than ride the exercise bike and walk a little with HotRod.  I am getting a little antsy...but must follow directions to keep moving in the right direction.  My goal is full and complete recovery. 

Hope you are all having a great weekend out there!

What a week...

This week was very tiring.  I had 3 different Doctor's appointments on 3 different days...and I still had my head cold.  We also had a very stressful business meeting in the office on Friday, which had everyone on edge. 

The Cardiologist doesn't want me to ramp up my exercise program until I have another echocardiogram which will happen in 2 weeks.  This is fine with me.  I am currently riding my stationary bike in the evenings, and taking little walks with my dog.  The anti-coagulation clinic moved my blood testing from once a week to once every 2 weeks - and that is a good thing!

Today I had an appointment at the Y to learn my workout routine and get used to the machines.  I am looking forward to really being able to work out hard, but for now slow and steady wins the race. 

My knee is feeling so much better in the last few days, but my surgeon would have liked to see my recovery a little bit further along.  But...I missed one full week while in the hospital, and it took another week or so to have the energy to do much of anything.  I go back in another month and hopefully that will be it. 

No appoinments next week!

One step forward...two steps back...

As if breathing wasn't difficult enough I developed a wicked head cold this week.  I had some of the worst sinus pain I have ever had on Tuesday, and because of the Coumadin I need to be careful what I take for said pain.  I did try a couple of things, but they didn't help.  I decided I would just have to wait it out, and finally Wednesday afternoon the pain became much more bearable.

Here is it Sunday and I am still congested, froggy, and coughing.  I am hoping I will be better next week so I can start making use of my Y membership.  I'm even looking forward to using the pool.  I'm not much of a swimmer, but it will probably be the best thing for me.

Hopefully I will be able to break out of this funk and get back on the road to recovery, but right now it just doesn't feel like it will happen any time soon.