Hospital, continued

I'm feeling pretty good this morning. Breathing is getting easier. I'm still having some pain, and they say I'll have that until the clots are completely gone. But they're giving me Percocet for the pain. Goooooood stuff. :)

I got to take a shower last night. That felt so good. I was able to walk from the bed to the shower with no problems breathing. It wasn't until I was getting dressed that I noticed my heart rate speeding up again. So I'm definitely improving. It's amazing how one takes something so simple as breathing for granted. I keep taking deep breaths (well, as deep as I can -- there's still some restriction going on) just because I can.

I'm exhausted this morning. They let me sleep from 12-3, which felt fantastic. But then I've had someone come in every single hour since then. They're either checking my vitals, drawing blood, bringing in food, cleaning my room.......

The doctor finally came in last night to talk to me. Different doctor than I've seen, and it wasn't my regular doctor, thank goodness. He told me I am NEVER to go on hormonal birth control again. He's ordering some extensive blood work (they drew 9 of those little viles full this morning....) to try and get to the root of the problem. I won't have results for 4-6 weeks, though. He said as soon as my blood coagulates at a certain level, I can go home. Last night, it was at a 1.something, and it needs to be between 2-3. So he increased my meds in hopes of being able to send me home today. I hope so. This isn't my kind of vacation.....

I found out the medicine I'll be taking, Coumadin, reacts to certain foods. Coumadin is a blood thinner, so I have to be very careful of eating foods that are high in Vitamin K, which is what thickens your blood. The problem is, foods that are high in Vitamin K are foods I love -- lettuce, celery, broccoli, basically every green vegetable you can think of, and then some other things like bread crumbs. I haven't been given specific instructions, but from what I researched online, I don't have to completely avoid those foods. I just have to be careful of the amount I consume every day. That will be hard! I will also have to go to the doctor once a month to have my levels checked. Then they may need to increase/decrease the amount of Coumadin I take.

That's all I know for now. Thank you all for your phone calls and love and support! I've gotten all your messages, I've just been too tired to call everyone back. Plus I don't get very good reception here at the hospital.