Prickly

*sigh*
December 15th Kaleb was diagnosed with strep.  *prickly #1*

December 22nd I was diagnosed with a blood clot and had to start Lovenox shots *prickly #2-17*, Zac was diagnosed with strep *prickly #18*.

December 27th Jerry was diagnosed with strep *prickly #19*

December 29th I was diagnosed with strep *prickly #20*.

We've been to so many doctor's offices in the last 2 weeks it's really ridiculous.  We've paid over $200 in just doctor co-pays this week alone.  I haven't had the guts to add up the prescription co pays yet, or balance the check book.
I had my first Coumadin Clinic visit on Monday.  It wasn't great.  My INR (blood level) was only 1.5 - by the way, they prick your finger (*prickly #21*) to get the blood sample.  A person not on any blood thinners is at a 1, they want me between 2 and 3.  I've been on Lovenox and Warfarin since the 22nd, so 6 days worth taken at that point and was only at a 1.5, I was put back on Lovenox for the next 4 days and the Warfarin was increased for the week to try to increase my levels to therapeutic.
I started back to physical therapy yesterday.  It was actually good, I have more range of motion in my knee then I thought I would on the first day, and as we went through the exercises things really loosened up so I was happy, it's just so time consuming and draining; especially since I was already feeling drained from everything that had been going on with clinic and the cardiologist and feeling sick already.
Before physical therapy I called my cardiologist because I had a pain in my right arm, just above the elbow and my right hand gets absolutely freezing for no reason.  I was afraid it could be another blood clot.  When I called the office they said to get there ASAP, so I did.  After a brief exam I was told it was not blood or vascular related and had nothing to do with the blood clot, so that was a relief but also a waste of the $35 co pay and quite a draining trip.
Since I had an appointment to be tested for strep today with my primary care doctor anyway (which as I said, was positive), I asked about the pain in my arm and the freezing in my hand, they think it's either arthritis, bursitis or a nerve problem, maybe from something like carpal tunnel but I cannot take any anti inflammatories while on blood thinners so we're going to wait until I'm done dealing with the blood clot then I'll go back and we'll deal with my arm.

Oh, one last prickly...while I was filling my antibiotic at Target I picked up an electric razor since I'm not supposed to use a manual razor while taking Warfarin...guess I need to get used to prickly legs too :(  *prickly #22*