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.

Better Day by Day...

But it is really difficult to move so slow all the time.  I no longer have to wear a brace on my knee or use the cane, and am trying to get back to being fit and healthy.

Thanks to a benevolent friend (Thanks Pat!) I now have a membership to the Y, and have access to all they have to offer.  There is one about a mile from where I work, so I can either go before work or at lunch.  I am looking forward to being active again...within the limits of my health of course.  I think water aerobics or lap swimming will be good for me.

I am still very tired most of the time, but I am seeing progress. 

I missed the one year anniversary of my blog back in August...what a year!!!

Great Weekend In Squamish BC!

First I want to thank all of my friends who were not about to let me do too much this weekend. You guys Rock! I did pretty well, but by the end of the day I was tired. Thank you goes to Craig Biggs for giving me a ride back to camp on the quad. Much better than the slow walk.

I finally bought a blow up air mattress for sleeping in the car - and it made a big difference. I had Anneke sleep in the car with me and HotRod, and she just snuggled right in. Of course she took the best spot and HotRod was put out about it - he finally decided tojust lie down and go to sleep.

The racing was HOT and the location was just as beautiful as always. I have always enjoyed racing there. Unfortunately for me Anneke measured out on Saturday, and tweaked a toe yesterday on her first day running with the adults. She looked good though, so I have high hopes for her career on the track. Her Bro, Milhouse won the puppy races on Saturday. Wahoooo!

It is quite nice to just sit and watch a race meet rather than the running around you do when you have a dog or dogs competing. Thank You goes to Susan Heiniger for taking Anneke for the summer and racing her for me.

All in all a wonderful weekend - of course today I am beyond tired, but it was worth it!

I'm going to Squamish BC...

I didn't think I would have the energy for the 4 hour drive up there and it is still a pretty short time since my pulmonary embolism...but I can't not go. My puppy, Anneke, turns 1 year old today and will be running in the races tomorrow. I really wanted to see her. Plus, there are going to be a great many people there that I have not previously met, so I want to go there just to hang out too. The picture is Anneke and her brother Milhouse waiting to head up to Canada. Run fast you two!

Some of my friends don't want me to drive up there thinking I haven't had enough time since I got out of the Hospital, but I can't just sit around. I will work within the limits of my energy, and if I get out of breath or tired I will just sit down. Nobody will expect me to help with their dogs, so I can just schmooze and watch beautiful whippets run all day long. They will help me walk HotRod as well, because he will pull me down if I try to walk him anywhere at a race meet!

Hope you all have a great weekend - I intend to.