Grrrr - Did I miss my Dose?

[Bina]

What is protocol?

Steps! Everything in our health care system is done in steps.
In this case:
1) go for blood work
2) wait 3 hours for results
3) phone doctor
4) wait for doctor to call you back

When you don't have anyone else, what is one to do?

The real sad thing is that I knew all of this was going to happen.

Now don't go blaming the health care system....Firstly, blame your GP. Secondly, get on a waiting list if you must, to change docs for ACT.
How many times is your GP going to put you in danger before you speak up?
Will your husband speak up?

My small local hospital knew exactly what to do when I showed up one day (many years ago ) with a low INR.
It was simple and I never felt like I was in danger.

 

[Freddie]

Now don't go blaming the health care system....Firstly, blame your GP. Secondly, get on a waiting list if you must, to change docs for ACT.
How many times is your GP going to put you in danger before you speak up?
Will your husband speak up?

My small local hospital knew exactly what to do when I showed up one day (many years ago ) with a low INR.
It was simple and I never felt like I was in danger.

Not blaming the health care system, just trying to explain. As far as my GP goes, I have had NO contact with her, just from other doctors from the same clinic.
Presently, I'm on 8 different waiting lists with different docs, whom I have seen on a interview basis to see if they would except me and how they felt about a home monitor/ACT.
Speak-Up?
Yesterday I spoke up 3 times expressing my out most concern about throwing a clot, how heparin/lovenox goes into the blood stream, how it would assist me until I was in my therapeutic range and the response I got was 'they' were afraid of bleeding - bleeding in the lungs.

Now, I did find on the internet that doctors don't have a problem giving heparin to patients if they are just out of surgery or shortly there after.

As for my S/O speaking up...........another time.

Now if anyone can find some Canadian proof, I just may write a letter to our paper as Zipper suggested.

On the lighter side, as you can see..........I survived the night, only 4 hours sleep mind you but I survived. There could be hope for me yet.

 

[Lily]

Sorry for the frustration, Freddie. Best wishes .

 

[Eva]

So sorry, Freddie, for all this. My sympathy and prayers and I hope you feel better soon. It is a very frustrating situation.

 

[netmiff]

Freddie, my heart goes out to you, literally! Next time, don't go to the lab, go straight to the hospital, take your machine with you!

This is NOT a reflection of the Canadian health system, but something between Freddie and her GP/clinic.

I have just moved to a small town, there is no-one else in town on home testing; I have had minor surgery, and the hospital was fine with home testing and with my DH giving me the shots.

I also got a new familyn physician (withing 5 months of moving) and my two big questions to her were : how do you feel about home monitoring/dosing? and (we have no cardios here) how do you feel about having a look at my annual echo, and if it is OK we can leave it at that, and if it isn't, you will refer me out of town to a cardio, right? I got a yes to both questions, so I am happy now!

 

[Freddie]

Freddie, my heart goes out to you, literally! Next time, don't go to the lab, go straight to the hospital, take your machine with you!

This is NOT a reflection of the Canadian health system, but something between Freddie and her GP/clinic.

I have just moved to a small town, there is no-one else in town on home testing; I have had minor surgery, and the hospital was fine with home testing and with my DH giving me the shots.

I also got a new familyn physician (withing 5 months of moving) and my two big questions to her were : how do you feel about home monitoring/dosing? and (we have no cardios here) how do you feel about having a look at my annual echo, and if it is OK we can leave it at that, and if it isn't, you will refer me out of town to a cardio, right? I got a yes to both questions, so I am happy now!

Hopefully there won't a next time.
And as far as going straight to the hospital (spooky how you should ask), I put that same scenario to the head nurse last night, her response was "I would tell you to go to a lab that is closest to you and wait until you hear from your doctor, if your doctor then tell you to come to Emergency, they would notify us and only at that point would we treat you." Hence 'the conflict of interest'.
As far as having something between me and my GP/clinic, I don't have a clue what it could be. I've been straight forward & blunt with every doctor I've seen there. With one doctor I even walked out, because they were not hearing me.......I got pissed off and walked out - that was a few years ago.

Now last spring when my Cardio gave me my prescription for home monitoring, he explained to me that Saskatchewan does not have the population to receive the government grants and other stuff like the bigger centers do, which is one possible reason there is no INR clinic in this Province.....no population, no money. Which is probably the reason why Alberta, B.C. and Ontario have clinic's and are up-to-date with medical technology. Example: Saskatchewan has 2 M.I.R machines.

 

[netmiff]

Freddie, I didn't mean to be hard on you, sorry if it came over that way. It was late, I have had a head cold, DH worked a split shift yesterday (9 until 3 then 6 until 9) so we had barely seen each other. I will PM you with some thoughts I had (less harsh, I promise!)

 

[river-wear]

Hi Freddie,

How is your INR now? I hope you're feeling better!

Michele

 

[Freddie]

Hi Freddie,

How is your INR now? I hope you're feeling better!

Michele

Thanks for asking Michele,
I've had a few sleepless nights, but I lived through the crises and trying to handle the stress this has caused me. But things can only get better right?
I think I'll test tomorrow morning to see where I'm at. It should reflect the 7mg I took on Thursday, well see.
LOL we'll see if I have a finger to poke. My fingers are still sore from the 3 attempts Thursday morning, guess my hand/arm/blood was too cold.

 

[Ross]

Thanks for asking Michele,
I've had a few sleepless nights, but I lived through the crises and trying to handle the stress this has caused me. But things can only get better right?
I think I'll test tomorrow morning to see where I'm at. It should reflect the 7mg I took on Thursday, well see.
LOL we'll see if I have a finger to poke. My fingers are still sore from the 3 attempts Thursday morning, guess my hand/arm/blood was too cold.

Poke your toe this time.

 

[Freddie]

Poke your toe this time.

I've thought about doing that
OMGosh, Ross and I are thinking alike

 

[Freddie]

Well in case if anyone is curious, after washing my hands in hot water then using a blow dryer on my hand, I used one finger and one strip to get a reading today of 1.8, up from 1.5 from my monitor on Thursday.
Thursday was 7mg
Friday was 7.5mg
Saturday 6mg and today will be 6mg

 

[Ross]

Two or Three days and you should be back in range. Maybe that 10mg might not have been a bad idea after all, but still, given your usual dose, I wouldn't have done it.

 

[river-wear]

Well in case if anyone is curious, after washing my hands in hot water then using a blow dryer on my hand...

Yay, something for me to look forward to. I do this now just to get the circulation going when it's cold. In winter, I wear fingerless gloves around the house. I'll have to get those USB-heated gloves if I end up on Coumadin.

Glad you're inching up the INR scale, Freddie!

Michele

 

[catwoman]

Yay, something for me to look forward to. I do this now just to get the circulation going when it's cold. In winter, I wear fingerless gloves around the house. I'll have to get those USB-heated gloves if I end up on Coumadin.

Glad you're inching up the INR scale, Freddie!

Michele

Michele:

Do you have Raynaud's syndrome?

 

[lance]

No INR clinics in

No INR clinics in

Saskatchewan is the perfect reason to request a referral to a clinic in another province. How about the hospital that did your heart surgery?

 

[olefin]

Michele:

Do you have Raynaud's syndrome?

Marsha, my wife has it big time. At times her fingers look exactly like a dead person. People are always asking her why she wears gloves when it's not very cold. She use to pick up frozen food while buying grocery shopping but now never touches anything cold. I take care of that.

 

[Freddie]

Saskatchewan is the perfect reason to request a referral to a clinic in another province. How about the hospital that did your heart surgery?

Lance, that's where I went last Thursday. It's the only place/hospital I can go if and when I problems. There is no clinic in Saskatchewan. You tried to help me that a while a go - it doesn't exist, even though the web site you gave me says so.

 

[river-wear]

Marsha, yes I have Raynaud's. It's on my list to discuss when I go to meet surgeons next month. I'm a little worried about the induced hypothermia during surgery.

Michele

 

[catwoman]

Marsha, yes I have Raynaud's. It's on my list to discuss when I go to meet surgeons next month. I'm a little worried about the induced hypothermia during surgery.

Michele

My niece has Raynaud's, but it doesn't bother her tremendously now. It did when she was a firefighter. It was one of the reasons she left firefighting and went back to school to become an RN.