BUT WAIT....THERES MORE!

So we got back home after 4.5 hours in the office....got settled in...comfy clothes put on...ready to veg
out and look at magazines and Michael was going to have a nap....the phone ring...CALLER ID: UNKNOWN....which means a Doctors office...and we have to go back in....to get a shot of Vitamin K...
This is because his blood is WAY to thin...He takes a blood thinner for his embolisms, but it is usually steady between 2 and 4....TODAY...after being tested 2 times it is 17...which is way off the charts....So back we went ...mind you in the comfy clothes!!  Finally arriving back home at 3:30 ( we left the house at 8:30 in the morning)...There are quite a few things to watch for now....So doing the due diligence!!  But as Michael
says....
ONE DAY YOUR DRINKING WINE....THE NEXT DAY YOUR PICKING GRAPES!
Here's to drinking wine today....
I have copied a bit about the INR level to give you an idea of what it is and what it should be....
BE WELL...


If you have ever undergone oral anticoagulation therapy, you have most likely heard of the PT-INR test, but you may not understand what it is and/or what it means. This article will attempt to explain the PT-INR test.
First let's talk about the PT test. PT stands for prothrombin time. It is a measure of how quickly blood clots. The traditional method for performing a PT test is to have your blood drawn and sent to a lab. At the lab, a substance called a reagent is added to your blood. The reagent causes the blood to begin clotting. The PT result is the time in seconds that is required for the blood to clot.
There are a variety of reagents that can be used when a PT test is performed. Since each of these reagents works a bit differently, a PT result obtained with one reagent cannot be compared to a PT result obtained with another reagent. To account for the different reagents, the result of a PT test must be converted into standard units that can be compared regardless of the reagent used. These standard units are known as INR units.
INR stands for International Normalized Ratio. As its name suggests, one INR result can be compared to another INR result regardless of how or where the result was obtained. So, the INR is really just the standard unit used to report the result of a PT test.
There are a few things worth mentioning about the INR. First, an individual whose blood clots normally and who is not on anticoagulation should have an INR of approximately 1. The higher your INR is, the longer it takes your blood to clot. In other words, as the INR increases above a given level, the risk of bleeding and bleeding-related events increases. On the other hand, as the INR decreases below a given level, the risk of clotting events increases.
The ideal target INR range will vary from person to person depending on a variety of factors such as the reason for taking anticoagulants, other medical conditions, and a number of other issues. Your anticoagulation clinician will determine the appropriate INR range for you. The most common INR target range for someone on warfarin is somewhere between 2.0 and 4.0. INRs of 5 or more typically are avoided because the risk of bleeding increases significantly at INRs above 5.

1 comment:

Joani said...

I hope the K works for him. Seems U learn something different every hour with this. My thoughts & prayers R with U 2.