Aaaaand now I get to try yet more medications.
For the past few days I’d had what I thought was a bruise on my left forearm. That’s not something unusual, I’m very clumsy on the best of days and these are not the best of days; and right now I bruise extra easily. But then a second similar bruise developed a little above the first, and by the third or fourth day, I woke up feeling another one in my armpit. I knew then those were no bruises and I called my oncologist. Long story short: she had me come in, then sent me to Radiology for ultrasound testing, looking for blood clots. Which were found.
My doctor said the likelihood of a clot migrating to the lungs was low, but all the same she decided to put me on blood thinners. I get five days with self-injections of Lovenox twice daily, followed by up to three months taking two Pradaxa tablets daily.
[Update: The doctor changed her mind about the latter and put me on Warfarin instead because Pradaxa is a recent drug and there is insufficient study data on dosage for my weight range. That means I need to get a blood test on Monday, whoop-de-doo. Also, the name Warfarin has always made me suspect that it’s manufactured by the makers of Frenzon.]
My first thought when I started worrying about the not-actually-bruises was”Oh great, why does it have to be one thing after the other?” But then my next thought was to appreciate that, like mooks in a classic Bruce Lee movie, the boo-boos patiently wait their turn to attack one at a time rather than all at once…
The Reef 