This coming Thursday, I begin a series of tests aimed at determining how my blood clot issues will be handled -- quite possibly for the rest of my life. I'm pretty excited. In an anxious kind of way...
Testing #1: On Thursday, I will get a battery of blood tests that I've had before. Names for these tests include ONCOP/CP304062, CBC with dif and pit, and PT/INR. (Please don't ask: I don't know what any of that means.) But the idea is to get a comprehensive snapshot of my current blood chemistry.
(Hmmm... is that possible? A "comprehensive snapshot"? Well I think -- I hope -- you get the idea.) .
This is in preparation for "Testing #3." Please read on.
Testing #2: This also takes place on Thursday. It will be sonograms of both my right and left lower legs. These are the places where the serious blood clots, (AKA "deep vein thromboses," AKA "DVT's") were located earlier. My chemo/hematology doc wants some "baseline data" on the status of the clots: Are either or both of them still there? Or are they totally dissolved? Could either potentially re-form a blockage of a major vein (which, in case you missed this point, would be life-threatening)?
For the last eight or ten months or so, people have been asking me how this clot issue is coming along: am I healed yet? And I'm deeply grateful for their interest, but I never have a very satisfying answer to give them: I feel fine and have a "green light" from my doc to work out in the gym -- as long as I avoid lifting heavy weights. But "feeling fine" and "being healed/cured" are, of course, quite different things. For example, he doesn't like my driving to Meadville, which is a six-hour trip if you drive straight through. He doesn't like it even if I stop every two hours and walk around for a half hour or so.
The idea is that, if I encounter future clotting difficulties, the dual sonograms done on Thursday will allow docs to distinguish between brand new clots and re-formation of old ones.
This, too, is in preparation for "Testing #3." Please read on.
Testing #3: The final step in the plan looks like this: With all this new background data available, my doc will take me off blood thinners for a week or so in preparation for some in-depth blood chemistry testing (whose alphabet-soup names I don't know...). These new tests -- which will include genetic testing -- will be will attempt to determine the underlying causes of the clotting.
I mean, I lived the first sixty-odd years of my life without any concern about blood clots. And the notion of driving four or five days straight to Alberta (which is due north of Montana) was not only conceivable but perfectly do-able. I know this because I did it three times. But now, I have concerns about getting on an airplane for a two-hour flight. (The two hours in the air should not represent a problem, but if the plane is held on the tarmac for two additional hours or more, clotting becomes a very real possibility.)
At this point -- without this comprehensive testing -- my docs can't tell me what's okay to do and what's not. What's safe and what isn't.
One possible outcome of Testing #3 is a simple conclusion like, "No wonder you've had clots. You're not eating enough rutabagas." Or, "Just steer clear of Cheetos and you'll be fine." And wouldn't either of those be a wonderful thing to hear?
Another outcome might be, "Well, we've uncovered a genetic basis for your clotting. And the chemo treatments you had last year kicked the predilection for clotting into actual clotting. Tough on you. Stay on blood thinners forever and try to stay swathed in a thick cotton wrapping for the rest of your life." And wouldn't that be a bummer?
So this is shaping up to be one of those proverbial forks in the road that determine my activities for the forseeable future:
-- can I risk getting on a plane for a long trip? (If and when I can fly again, Deb and I have some wonderful plans!)
-- will I ever be able to go dinosaur hunting in Alberta again? (Would it be okay to drive again? Fly again? Hike the ridges and arroyos with the risk of falling and getting badly dinged up?)
-- is something as simple-but-wonderful as unicycling actually dangerous for me?
And your thoughts and prayers are hereby requested, as always, gratefully acknowledged.
Stay well.
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Randy,
ReplyDeleteSending Love and Light and for all important information to be Revealed for you in today's tests! Sending Warmth and Energy of Peace and Sweetness to you and Deb and the docs, the technicians, and the Blood Cells themselves.
DIane
PS Missed you last weekend!