Do you have any funny stories related to Coumadin?

[Matski]

I thought I'd share this, my cardiologist laughed his ass off when he heard it.

I've been on coumadin for over 30 years, I started taking it in 1979. Needless to say I'm used to it and to be honest very blase about it. In 2006 I had been hitting the gym hard for about a year and had really bulked up. One night when I got home me and the wife were messing around in the kitchen and she punched me in the arm. Being the 'tough guy' i told her "you hit like a girl, go ahead hit me again" All in all, I think she hit me about 15 times in the same spot when I made her stop...she may hit like it girl but it did start to hurt because she has a knack for hitting in between the shoulder muscle and the top of the bi/tri area. I rubbed it and it was fine.

The next morning when I got out of the shower I noticed a small spot on my dark spot on my arm and thought it was dirt...it was the beginning of a bruise, No biggie right? Wrong. Turns out my INR was high when I got it checked and day later I ended up getting scheduled for a pacemaker the next week but the damage was done. I stopped my coumadin 4 days prior to the surgery and the bruise was still spreading. At its worst point, it stretched from my elbow just slightly up on to my right pec. Understand, it didnt hurt and it wasnt a concern to me. Anyway, wife takes me to the hospital for the procedure and were in a pre-op room where she is filling out paperwork for me. The nurse pulls up my sleeve to check my blood pressure and notices this enormous bruise. I have a tattoo in the area and she asks if the bruise is from the tattoo and is it new? I told her no, I'd had it for a few years, the bruise was where my wife had been hitting me. (Let me explain, I'm 5'8" about 175 and was fairly muscular at the time, on the other hand my wife was 5'4" and maybe 120lbs soaking wet, a little bitty thing.) The nurse finishes and disappears only to show up a few minutes later with another woman and a clip board which she hands to me. I asked the nurse to give it to my wife since she is filling everything out and they inform me no, that I have to fill it out and leave.

The first question was "are you afraid or have concerns about going home in the care of your spouse or guardian?" I lost it!!! They thought my wife was beating me at home! LOL! My wife came over to read what was so funny and she got pissed. When the nurse came back she explained that is was standard procedure to have this document filled out when this kind of bruising was noticed on any patient. Anyway she got over it but to this day I still joke with her about that...she hates it.

I've attached a picture of the bruise about 3 days after it happened, it got alot worse before it got better.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

My whole arm turned PURPLE after an automatic "Blood Pressure Cuff from Hell" failed to get a good reading and then pumped up to Maximum Pressure.

Foolishly, I just waited it out. Eventually the Purple Color spread from my shoulder to my wrist.

If that ever happens again, I will RIP OFF the Cuff immediately!

 

[skeptic49]

Interesting stories...Matski, that is amusing!

Jim

 

[Ross]

I gotta remember this for the next time my wife beats me.

Don't have any funnies of my own to share.

 

[MarkU]

I had to get a dental implant about five years ago. The dentist insisted I go off my Coumadin three days before. Told him in the past I had done a Lovenox bridge, but he was insistent that I be completely off everything.

Called my cardiologist, who called the dentist to tell him it was okay. He still refused unless I had an INR of 1.0.

Cardiologist called me back. Said there's no way I was going off Coumadin. Told me, "Just lie to him and tell him you did - we'll back you up."

So went to the appointment and the dentist screws up drilling the hole for the implant post. Had to do it twice. When he's finished he tells me: "You hardly bled at all. Aren't glad I made you go off the Coumadin?"

Yep.

Mark

 

[njean]

This is so funny!

I too tend to get gargantuous (is there such a word for "huge?) from even the slightest of things.

And I know that some of the bruises that I sport at times, will inadvertently raise some eyebrows. One time my neighbor saw a bruise on my arm & asked, "is everything ok between you & Bill" while cautiously looking at my bruise! LOL !

 

[Bina]

I live in a teeny, tiny town.
At the local feed mill the owner's wife always had various bruises on her arms, but it's not like she is a little delicate person,
and a feed mill can have it's own bumps and hazards.
Anyway, one day my curiousity got the best of me and I stared down at her newest
bruise and asked her if she and hubby were playing a bit too rough.

She looked at the bruise and started laughing.
Then she replied that she was on "blood thinners".
I was pre-op, so I asked her what she meant, and out came the story of her surgeries.
My silly question opened a door and we spent hours over the next several months discussing OHS and Coumadin.

 

[AgilityDog]

Last month, a friend of mine was taking pictures of us dog training.
We always tease that Jet wants to "Run, run, run, swim, swim, swim." So, John was taking pictures of the dogs kersplashing into the pond making retrieves.

On the "last" return trip, Jet slipped in the mud and crashed into my shins. As you can see, Jet is made of hard bones and harder muscles, and thinks nothing of using me as a backstop.

Although he missed the actual collision, John sent me three "swim swim swim pictures of Jet splashing in, and three "ouch, Ouch, OUCH! pictures" of me yelling "THAT'S GONNA LEAVE A MARK!!" after the collision, and wondering whether to laugh or cry.

By the time I got home, I had a lump on my shin the size of a golf ball, and just as high. 6 hours of ice later, I got it down to manageable, but the discoloration encompassed my entire shin to the ankles. It's just now going away.

 

[COLLEEN S]

My husband joke (albeit a bad joke) about how everyone's going to think he is beating me at home.

 

[Ross]

My husband joke (albeit a bad joke) about how everyone's going to think he is beating me at home.

My wife beats me daily. Just look at her and Wham.

 

[Lorraine]

I've had the same thing happen to me, that happened to Al with the blood pressure cuff, only more than once. For whatever reason those automatic cuffs, especially in ER, seem to not get a good reading and goes to max pressure. Needless to say, after the first time it happened, I havealways ripped the nasty thing off if it starts to go to max pressure. Talk about bruising! Yikes!

I bruise really easy so sometimes during sex or just cuddling, I look like I've been through a war zone! Don't plan to give that up though!! Leads to some interesting conversations and teasing from friends and family!