Well, I got the results and had my follow up appointment with Dr. Hadley. I really like him. Checking the 2nd time revealed that I'm not exactly a ticking timebomb of death. I was not showing deficient in levels of Protein S or C. Now this means there are only 2 factors for putting me on blood thinners. The previous clot, and the Vena Cava filter. He's going to check and see if it is the type that can be removed. He said after a couple years it may not be able to be removed anyway, but he wants to see. The plan right now is this: if I go on coumadin, I have a 3% chance per year of having a bleeding complication. I would have a 0.3% chance of having a serious problem like a brain hemmorage or stroke. If I get a clot, with the filter is is not likely to kill me, but it could cause my legs to swell so much that I would never effectively walk again-IF I didn't catch it and I didn't get treatment within 24-48 hours. He said exercise releases Plasmin into the bloodstream which helps break up clots, so I have to build exercise in to my schedule somehow. So right now I exercise, stay off coumadin, and be very alert to the swelling of my legs...which is difficult because I always have a little swelling anyway. I call him in 2 weeks to get the results of my tests from today. Oh, and last time they billed me $200! They gave me a number to call because they don't process any of their own billing.
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