On the Mend

I’ve had several people ask me for an update on my health. My leg doesn’t hurt to walk anymore which is awesome. But the veins are still hard and a bit inflamed, and I may kick you if you try to touch my leg because it’s still sore on the surface. I still get short-of-breath pretty easily, but I’ve started walking on the treadmill once again which is good because I’ve gained about a million pounds with all my prolonged inactivity.

I only need to have my blood drawn once a week now instead of every other day. I was starting to feel like a pin cushion for awhile there!  I’m not thrilled about taking the blood thinners because I bruise very easily and for a clutz like me, that means I’m already covered in purple blotches.  And Tylenol is the only pain reliever I can take. Unfortunately, Tylenol does absolutely nothing for me, especially for dealing with my endometriosis.  Not fun.  But whatcha gonna do?

A couple weeks ago, I slipped on some spilled water and fell.  I smacked my head against the refrigerator pretty hard, twisted my back and landed in a contorted heap on the floor.  Ordinarily, I would’ve gotten up, yelled at the kids for spilling water and not wiping it up, then limped about my day.  But because of the blood thinners, I had to worry that I might be bleeding internally.  Little things like that are annoying.  Of course, the alternative isn’t so great either.

When I saw the hematologist last week, I had a list of questions for him. I ended with the most important question of all. “But can I drink while being on the Coumadin?” I nodded slightly as if I could subliminally get him to say yes simply by gesturing with my head.

He gave me the standard ‘I can’t condone this, but won’t tell you no either’ answer. “Well, it would be a really bad thing if you got drunk. But I suppose a, one, singular, drink on occasion would be okay.”

I’ve gone many months at a stretch without drinking. I mean, I’ve been pregnant and breastfed six times. Plus, being married to a recovering alcoholic, I didn’t keep alcohol in the house while I was married, so I’ve never really been a big drinker. It wouldn’t be a big deal if I was only going to be on the blood thinners for a few months, but this is a life-long thing. The idea of never having another glass of wine is unthinkable! What am I suppose to do after an especially stressful day with my students? (If you say, “Exercise”, I’ll slap you. Just a warning.)


My friend, Cheri found a loophole though. The doctor didn’t specify what size drink I can have. :D